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The Coalition for Sensible Safeguards is an alliance of more than 180 consumer, labor, scientific, research, faith, community, environmental, small business, good government, public health and public interest groups — representing millions of Americans. We are joined in the belief that our country’s system of regulatory safeguards should secure our quality of life, pave the way for a sound economy, and benefit us all. Follow us @goodregs.

Latest Regulatory News 2024

Mar 15, 2024 - eenews.net - 0
EPA Cracks Down on Carcinogenic Pollution from Medical Plants

EPA on Thursday announced new regulations to slash releases of a cancer-causing compound used by dozens of medical equipment sterilization plants, often located in heavily populated and marginalized communities. The final rule is the latest of a series for various industries, including many chemical manufacturers, to account for a 2016 finding that ethylene oxide was much more dangerous than previously thought. The rule, stronger in some respects than a draft released last year, will eventually cut emissions of ethylene oxide by sterilization facilities by more than 90 percent, according to an agency forecast. Many of those plants are located in neighborhoods or near schools. When the new regulations are fully in effect, EPA predicts that they will reduce the lifetime cancer risk for all nearby residents below a key Clean Air Act threshold of one additional cancer case per 10,000 people.

Mar 15, 2024 - grist.org - 0
Climate Change and Boat Strikes Are Killing Right Whales. Stronger Speed Limits Could Save Them.

Amid a difficult year for North Atlantic right whales, a proposed rule to help protect them is one step closer to reality. Earlier this month, a proposal to expand speed limits for boats — one of the leading causes of death for the endangered whales — took a key step forward: It’s now under review by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the last stage of federal review. Fewer than 360 of the whales remain; only about 70 of them are females of reproductive age. Every individual whale is considered vital to the species’ survival, but since 2017 right whales have been experiencing what scientists call an “unusual mortality event,” during which 39 whales have died. Human actions — including climate change — are killing them.

Mar 15, 2024 - ehsdailyadvisor.blr.com - 0
OSHA Still Working on Six Economically Significant Rules

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) continues to work on six economically significant rulemakings, including developing a workplace violence prevention rule, according to a March 14 Department of Labor (DOL) Federal Register notice. An earlier DOL notice omitted a listing of the department’s regulatory flexibility items on its semiannual regulatory agenda.

Mar 14, 2024 - theregreview.org - 1
Decoding Cryptocurrency Regulation

In the blink of an eye, $40 billion in life savings, home down payments, and investment portfolios disappeared in the cryptocurrency collapse of 2022. For policymakers, the crypto market failure underscored serious issues of fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the digital asset space. In an article, Sarah Hammer, legal scholar and an executive director at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Brett Hemenway Falk, director of the Crypto and Society Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, argue that regulators should adopt new cryptocurrency standards to protect investors from predatory digital currency practices. Hammer and Hemenway Falk recommend a three-prong approach to improve consumer protection while maintaining industry innovation.

Mar 13, 2024 - news.bloomberglaw.com - 0
Joint Employer Rule’s Revival Options Include Ignoring Judge

A federal district court’s invalidation of a National Labor Relations Board regulation on joint employer liability under federal labor law presents the board with several potential responses—including treading into untested legal territory. The NLRB’s possible paths include appealing the decision, initiating new notice-and-comment rulemaking to rescind the Trump-era joint employer rule that’s currently in effect, and refusing to acquiesce to the judge’s ruling outside of his judicial district, the Eastern District of Texas. Those options don’t seem to be mutually exclusive.

Mar 13, 2024 - theregreview.org - 0
Reforming Labor Law to Protect U.S. Workers

For decades, activists seeking to improve the fate of workers have argued that the U.S. Congress should amend the National Labor Relations Act—a critical law that protects employees in forming unions. But are these advocates wasting their energy? Yes, according to some scholars. In an article for the Missouri Law Review, law professors Leonard Bierman, Rafael Gely, and William B. Gould IV argue that statutory labor reform may be a pipe dream in the current legislative and judicial climates. Instead, Bierman and his coauthors contend that a more realistic avenue for reform is through changes to union election rules.