Bush administration shields corporations from safety rules, lawsuits

The Times details several instances in which rules have been fundamentally altered in favor of corporations, without any approval by Congress. The paper reports, “Some of these efforts are already facing court challenges. However, through arcane regulatory actions and legal opinions, the Bush administration is providing industries with an unprecedented degree of protection at the expense of an individual’s right to sue and a state’s right to regulate.”

New pro-industry rulings are often inserted into legislation designed to regulate on behalf of the consumer, as with heightened vehicle roof safety standards imposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) last August. Hidden within new rules purportedly designed to require tougher safety standards for vehicle manufacturers was protection for those manufacturers from future roof-crush lawsuits.

As examples of similar measures the Times lists the following:

* The NHTSA’s support for the auto industry’s bid to quash attempts by California and other states to regulate tailpipe emissions linked to global warming. The agency maintains that such regulations would signal “a backdoor attempt by states to encroach on federal authority to set mileage standards, and should be preempted,” according to the paper.

* The Justice Department’s intervention on behalf of industry groups to block a ruling in Southern California that would have imposed tighter pollution controls on buses, garbage trucks and other commercial vehicles.

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/safe-f25.shtml