Regulatory Affairs

Policy Priorities for 2008

• Challenge the incorrect, or inconsistent, numerical values for chemicals listed in various Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) databases.
• Encourage the correction of inconsistent data used by EPA.
• Promote the formation of an interagency task force, which would include the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Geological Survey, to establish protocols for determining the correct numerical values of chemicals and to prevent inconsistencies.     

• Ensure that federal agencies comply with provisions of the Data Quality Act, including requirements that federal agencies disclose all data and analyses supporting proposed regulations and that the data are objective, accurate, and complete.

• Ensure that federal agencies respond to requests for information under FOIA in a timely and transparent manner.
• Advocate for the creation of an online database to allow the public to track the progress of each FOIA request.
• Call for the establishment of an ombudsman to hear disputes over FOIA claims.

• Ensure that federal agencies and programs operate efficiently and within budget and do not issue duplicative or obsolete regulations.

• Advocate for transparency, accountability, and compatibility in international standards by working through U.S. delegates, Congress, and industry allies.

• Develop a working group of Chamber members to address nanotechnology issues and advocate for continued federal funding for research into the environmental, health, and safety implications of nanotechnology.
• Work to ensure that federal regulatory agencies, particularly EPA, implement a sensible regulatory structure that does not handicap U.S. leadership in the rapidly growing commercial area of nanotechnology.

• Support legislation to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish a single set of consistent food safety regulations for products sold in all 50 states.

• Support efforts to reauthorize this act. 

• Work closely with House and Senate committees to address loopholes in this act.
• Urge federal agencies to conduct a periodic review of regulations and rules as required under Section 610 of the act. 

• Work with the Office of Management and Budget to establish comprehensive guidelines for federal agencies on the development and issuance of guidance documents.
• Ensure that federal agencies do not include language in guidance documents that impose regulatory requirements.     

• Ensure that federal agencies rely on sound science in formulating regulations, that the science is peer reviewed, that a proper cost-benefit study is completed and that feasible alternatives are considered, and that all impact studies required by law or executive order are performed.
• Make certain that new laws and executive orders do not diminish the requirements that agencies must comply with before promulgating new regulations.