The Failure of Agency-Forcing: The Regulation of Airborne Carcinogens Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act

Professor Graham analyzes section 112 of the Clean Air Act, a provision intended by Congress to achieve ambitious regulatory ends by constraining agency discretion. The performance of the Environmental Protection Agency in implementing section 112 reveals flaws inherent in this agency-forcing approach to statutory design. In particular, section 112 directs the Agency to list formally those pollutants that it determines-without statutory guidance-to be hazardous. This directive, added to the requirement that the Agency promulgate within short dead-lines very stringent rules regulating listed pollutants, has led to a lack of result that is perceived as bureaucratic footdragging. This lack of result is, however, due to the statutory design itself, and especially to its denial to the Agency of authority to consider costs and benefits in writing regulations governing sources of listed pollutants. A package of reforms is proposed to bring needed flexibility to section 112

The optimal accumulation of human capital over the life cycle / BEBR No.553

Includes bibliographical references (p. 28)."This paper summarizes the important contributions of the new life cycle human capital literature and demonstrates that many of these results can be derived more simply than in their original presentations. Within three period discrete-time framework it is demonstrated how the optimal pattern of human capital investment over the life cycle depends upon the choice of the objective function, the life cycle of leisure, and the extent of nonmarket benefits of human capital. The paper offers sufficient conditions for the optimality of a profile of monotonically declining investment activity over the life cycle.

The Evolving Role of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in Regulatory Policy

Since the early Reagan years, critics have argued that benefit-cost analysis is used by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a one-sided tool of deregulation to advance the interests of business. This article discloses a little-known fact: OMB also plays a powerful pro-regulation role when agency proposals address market failures and are supported by benefit-cost analysis. Drawing on four case studies from the George W. Bush Administration, the author examines how and why OMB encouraged regulatory initiatives while protecting some rulemakings from opposition by forces inside and outside of the executive branch. The case studies address the labeling of foods for trans fat content, control of diesel engine exhaust, improvement of light-truck fuel economy, and control of air pollution from coal-fired power plants. OMB's role in the 2001-2006 period was unusual by historic standards because, rather than await agency drafts, OMB played a pro-active role in both the initiation of rulemakings and the creation of regulatory alternatives for consideration. The benefit-cost framework could be much more powerful if greater investments were made in applied research to expand knowledge on key regulatory issues.

A Survey of Residual Cancer Risks Permitted by Health, Safety and Environmental Policy

The authors describe permitted U.S. residual cancer risks, focusing on numerical levels specifically and implicitly authorized by statute or regulation. They also discuss potential changes

Health and wellbeing in a deep plan office space

This research tracks public sector employees as they move from a 1960s office building into a purpose-built, environmentally sound, office accommodation. It hypothesises that in this instance the attempts to change the image and effectiveness of an organisation by changing workspace layouts has been ineffective and considers the consequent implications for individuals working in that organisation. It looks at the likely relationship between health and wellbeing of individuals and productivity. The case study is founded in the public sector but the findings are equally applicable to private sector workplaces

BREEAM for Healthcare - a report for NHS Estates and Facilities Policy

This report considers sustainable healthcare properties and in particular the use of BREEAM for Healthcare 2008 and the options for improving sustainability across the NHS

Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone Air Quality in Western Pennsylvania in the 2000s

Presents data on the area's particulate matter, ozone, and emissions levels and air pollution sources. Examines air quality compared with the rest of the nation, links between premature death and harmful levels of air pollution, and monitoring networks