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New York City Energy Data
Policy Integrity is conducting an empirical analysis of power plant emissions in New York City to evaluate the potential efficacy of various policy tools that can reduce or shift electricity demand. The complete project will quantify the health impacts of reducing pollution from specific local sources, and will try to connect the range of legal options available to shift demand with those pollution-reduction and health-improvement outcomes. Today we are posting information on the data and the STATA code that we will use to conduct the analysis. In the coming months, we will publish the results of our analysis as it becomes available.
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DOJ Releases Final PREA Standards
The Department of Justice (DOJ) released a final rule to prevent, detect and respond to sexual abuse in prison facilities, in accordance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA). The rule marks the government’s first ever effort to set standards to protect inmates in facilities at the federal, state and local levels.
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Letter to OIRA on Interagency Coordination
Policy Integrity submitted a letter to OIRA Administrator Cass Sunstein today with recommendations for how OIRA can improve interagency coordination. The letter focuses on two key areas: (1) concerns about regulatory conflict, and (2) potential for harmonization of cost-benefit analysis methodology.
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President Obama Signs New Executive Order
President Obama signed off today on a new Executive Order aimed at identifying and reducing regulatory burdens. It calls upon agencies to evaluate the effectives of old rules and issue reports on their progress.
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Public Comments to the Administrative Conference of the United States
Today, Policy Integrity submitted public comments to the Administrative Conference of the United States regarding their Committee on Regulation’s proposed recommendations for review of regulatory analysis requirements.
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Letter to EPA on Stormwater Regulations
Today, EPA was supposed to propose rules to curb stormwater run-off—the murky, polluted water that gushes into rivers and oceans after heavy rains. They now say the proposal will come in May.
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Regulatory Red Herring
The Role of Job Impact Analyses in Environmental Policy Debates
The debate on jobs and environmental regulation too often relies on thinly-supported forecasts about jobs “killed” or “created” by public protections. In the din, questions about larger costs and benefits of protections for clean air or water can get lost.
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EPA Releases NSPS for Power Plants
The EPA released its first ever greenhouse gas standards for new power plants after a delay at the beginning of the year. The New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) limit emissions from new plants to 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of electricity produced.
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Comments to EPA on reconsideration of Boiler MACT
Boiler MACT regulations will take harmful soot out of the air as well as mercury and other heavy metals. It will have a significant positive effect on respiratory and cardiovascular health. But EPA is currently reconsidering some of the rule it deems shaky.