Laws & Regulations

"The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to expand the public's access to government records, after a year of delay."

"The U.S. Senate on Wednesday blocked a bill that would nullify state and local efforts to require food makers to label products made with genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, as the industry races to stop Vermont's law from taking effect on July 1."

"When will it stop? Nelson Garcia, a member of the same Indigenous rights group as murdered activist Berta Caceres, has been assassinated in Honduras, local media reported Tuesday."

"The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality repeatedly gave assurances that water from the Flint River was safe, when in reality it had dangerous levels of lead, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says." CBS News/AP had the story March 17, 2016. The House Oversight Committee will hear testimony from Mich. Gov Rick Snyder and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy Thursday, March 17, at 9 am ET. The hearing will be cablecast/livestreamed via CSPAN3.

"Many large Canadian companies are financing legal action and lobbying against President Barack Obama’s climate change plan, putting the public and their investors at risk, said a new report released on Monday by an investment services organization."

"The Senate will grapple this week with perhaps the most contentious issue in the food industry: whether the government should require mandatory labeling on foods containing genetically engineered ingredients."

"Members of a congressional oversight committee excoriated a former Environmental Protection Agency official on Tuesday for not responding more forcefully when she learned last year that Flint, Mich., was not adding a chemical to its new water supply that would have prevented the city’s pipes from corroding and leaching lead."

"The Senate backers of legislation to strengthen the government's open records laws are hoping to pass their bill on the floor in the coming week."

As the Flint water crisis was being discovered, Michigan environmental officials tried to manipulate exemptions in the state's freedom of information law to keep secret emails that should have been subject to disclosure.

"In a pair of hearings at the House Oversight Committee, top officials involved in the Flint, Mich., drinking water crisis are slated to discuss the causes and aftermath of the lead contamination." Witnesses include Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.