EHS Quarterly Review: Fourth Quarter 2011 (51 pages). While Congress continued its divisive debates over the regulatory reach of the federal government during the final quarter of 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency continued to move forward on rulemakings addressing air pollution, waste management, and water pollution, while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration concentrated on enforcing existing regulations instead of pursuing new rulemakings.

EHS Quarterly Review: Third Quarter 2011 (48 pages). During the third quarter of 2011, there was much activity in Congress with few results. The fractured legislative branch continued to battle over the budget and regulatory over-reach, leaving the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration uncertain about federal regulatory planning. Despite the ongoing gridlock in Washington, D.C., EPA and OSHA continued to pursue rulmakings in a variety of areas during the third quarter of 2011.

 

EHS Quarterly Review: Second Quarter 2011 (49 pages). The end of the second quarter of 2011 marked a remarkably quiet three months in federal activity in the environment and safety arenas. Congressional attention was focused on a looming debt crisis, diverting attention away from regulatory issues that only months earlier had been headline news. Although Congress was preoccupied, the Environmental Protection Agency continued to work on key rulemakings while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration focused on enforcement.

EHS Quarterly Review: First Quarter 2011 (49 pages). During the first quarter of 2011, the 112th Congress convened with Republicans
gaining control of the House of Representatives and Democrats retaining control of the Senate, leading to heated debate as to whether federal regulations are protecting the environment and human health and safety or killing jobs and stagnating a fragile economic recovery. The Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration both are being scrutinized by an emboldened House that seeks to reduce spending and break down barriers to business. Faced with such oversight, the agencies are backing off some significant rulemakings, opening themselves up to citizen lawsuits that seek to compel the agencies to administer and enforce environmental and health and safety laws.

EHS Quarterly Review: Fourth Quarter 2010 (55 pages). During the fourth quarter of 2010, the environment and safety communities shifted gears in anticipation of the Republication takeover of the House of Representatives following the November midterm election. While the campaigning that led up to the election often referred to a federal government that is out of control and out of touch, such rhetoric has tempered now that the reality of governing is at hand. How the changes on Capitol Hill will impact the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be seen in the months ahead. Nonetheless, the agencies are moving forward with existing initiatives and have welcomed additional congressional oversight.

EHS Quarterly Review: First Quarter 2010 (54 pages). Although healthcare reform garnered the attention of domesticpoliticians and the population alike during the first quarter of2010, a number of developments reflecting the goals and desires ofthe Obama administration on environment, health, and safety issuesmoved forward deliberately and substantively on several fronts.

EHS Quarterly Review: Third Quarter 2010 (57 pages). During the third quarter of 2010, fallout from the massive oilspill resulting from the drilling rig explosion at the BP Deepwater Horizon site in theGulf of Mexico was seen in varying degrees in the air,safety, waste, and water sectors. With the final bottom kill of thewell completed in September, attention turned to gaining a betterassessment of the environmental and human health impacts andresponses to such. Nonetheless, efforts in Congress, theEnvironmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration, and various state and local governments continuedon other fronts.

EHS Quarterly Review: Second Quarter 2010 (63 pages). During the second quarter of 2010, the United States experiencedtwo of the worst environmental, health, and safety disasters in its history:the April 5 explosion at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine inWest Virginia, in which 29 workers died, and the April 20 drillingrig explosion at the BP Deepwater Horizon site in the Gulf ofMexico, which killed 11 workers and has caused and will continue tocause extraordinary damage to Gulf water resources and the economythat depends on it. While responses to these historic accidentscontinue on many fronts, Congress, the Environmental ProtectionAgency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and variousstate and local governments are responding to a wide variety ofother important EHS issues.

EHS Quarterly Review: Fourth Quarter 2009 (59 pages). At the end of 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency andOccupational Safety and Health Administration continued with theirbusy schedules issuing numerous final rules that reflect the goalsof the Obama administration and many times reversing actions of theprevious administration.

EHS Quarterly Review: Third Quarter 2009 (60 pages). The third quarter of 2009 was a busy one across all sectors ofgovernment. From the perspective of environment, health, and safetyissues, much of the activity focused on reversing policies of theprevious administration and charting new courses of action thatachieve the goals of the Obama administration.