Lobbyists Asked To Identify ‘Burdensome’ Regulations, Washington Post Reports

A Sept. 26 e-mail sent by a Republican congressional aide to a dozen business lobbyists asked them to "identify and rank" health, safety and environmental regulations that they "found overly burdensome" and listed "57 of the most paperwork-intensive rules the business community wants to target," the Washington Post reports. In the e-mail obtained by the Post, Barbara Kahlow, deputy director of the House Government Reform Committee's subcommittee on energy policy, natural resources and regulatory affairs, wrote that White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs head John Graham had "asked [her] to convene key lobbyists to identify and rank" the regulations they opposed. Kahlow wrote, "We intend to share the group's list with [Graham] confidentially." The rules listed in Kahlow's e-mail "govern everything from pesticide use to coal-mine ventilation, to standards for blood-borne pathogens" and "cover such areas as air and water quality, food labeling, lead-paint disclosure, ... toxic-release reporting and family and medical leave," the Post reports. Recipients of the e-mail included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Business Roundtable. Graham "acknowledged ... that he had invited Kahlow and others to let him know about overly burdensome regulations," but said he had not seen Kahlow's list of 57 targeted rules and "pledged not to change any regulations without input from affected agencies and the public." Graham became President Bush's "regulatory czar" after a "nasty confirmation fight," with "liberal groups" and Democrats calling him "an enemy of regulations" (Grunwald, Washington Post, 12/4).