OSHA’s Asst. Secretary Edwin G. Foulke Jr sent a farewell letter to the staff, dated Election Day Nov 7, recounting his goal on taking the job in March 2006: “I just want OSHA to be the best Agency it can be” Reading his 4-page farewell letter, he thinks he accomplished it. He asserts: “without a doubt, we […]
A former Department of Labor career employee who is expert in administrative law offers three simple steps for the Obama Administration to revitalize the federal rulemaking system. Pete Galvin’s open letter to President-elect Obama provides thoughtful insight and recommendations that, if implemented, would go a long way to get our public health agencies (OSHA, MSHA, EPA) back […]
by Bob Snashall, retired Labor Dept employee (Op-Ed Charleston Gazette, Nov 7, 2008) George W. Bush & Company did one thing well – it bagged a lot of public information and taxidermied it into secrets. The shroud of secrecy even spread over mine safety. Mine safety? The law envisions everybody chipping in to protect miners from the perils of […]
In “DuPont finds high levels of C8 in Chinese workers,” Ken Ward of the Charleston Gazette writes that workers at the Changshu, China plant had average blood concentration of about 2,250 ppb of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), an agent used to make the non-stick compound Teflon. Ward writes: “DuPont Co. has found high levels of the toxic chemical C8 in […]
In 1966 when the original Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) became law, President Lyndon B. Johnson said he “signed this measure with a deep sense of pride that the U.S. is an open society in which the peopleâs right to know is cherished and guarded.â The law’s purpose is âto establish a general philosophy of full […]
Only 14 days after Gloria McInnis died in an explosion at a Goodyear plan in Houston, her husband Raymond McInnis testified before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security. At the June 25, 2008 hearing, Mr. McInnis explained why he was present and sharing his grief and pain in such a public forum: […]
On the eve of the election, The Nation reminds us that the next president will play a crucial role in determining the makeup of the Supreme Court. Herman Schwartz describes the Court’s current makeup and rattles off current rulings that would be threatened by the appointment of another conserviative justice. Then, other contributors explain how […]
Celeste and other bloggers have noted that the Bush administration seems to be ignoring the Bolten memo, which told agency heads not to engage in the traditional end-of-administration rush to regulate. Now, a front-page story in todayâs Washington Post confirms that this administration is racing to enact several new regulations before Bushâs term ends â […]
Remember back in early May, when White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten sent a memorandum to all agency heads warning them: “to resist the historical tendency of administrations to increase regulatory activity in their final months” and directed, except in extraordinary circumstances, that regulations needed to be proposed by 6/1/08. Well it seems that pretty much […]
A long awaited OSHA proposed rule on crane safety was published in the Federal Register on Oct 9. The current OSHA safety standards on cranes and derricks dates back to at least 1971, and these proposed changes have been in the works for 10 years. I’ve criticized OSHA’s Asst. Secretary for the deadly delay in proposing this rule, and it is […]