^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

CRE Tells Congress that the EDSP Violates the Congressional Review Act
The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness on January 8, 2010, sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden, as president of the Senate, and to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, asking them to advise the Environmental Protection Agency that its Endocrine Disrupter Screening Program is not in effect until the agency provides the required notice to Congress and the GAO under the Congressional Review Act.

CRE's letter is based on a recent CRS report (No. R-40997, Dec. 29, 2009). This report found that many federal agencies over a 10-year period failed to comply with a key provision of the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. §§801-808) that requires agencies to submit final rules to both houses of Congress and GAO before the rules can take effect. CRS concluded that the agencies' failures to notify Congress and GAO could mean that the non-compliant regulations have no legal effect.

The non-compliant rules identified in the CRS report include EPA's controversial EDSP, which was published by EPA on April 15, 2009, 74 Fed. Reg. 17559. The EDSP requires companies to test their pesticide products for endocrine effects using new and unreliable test methods.