It’s no secret that the Trump administration does not like regulations. The GOP and corporations have argued they hamper businesses, which are forced to devote resources to following the rules. A year ago, President Donald Trump even signed an executive order with a pledge to slash two regulations for every new one put in place.
I admittedly haven’t done the math to back up that version of the two-step, but the New York Times reported last month that so far the Trump administration had revoked 67 rules, withdrawn 635 planned regulations and delayed 700. Trump has already received a fair amount of praise from conservatives for his rollback efforts, particularly when it comes to Obama-era rules.
At the same time, centrists and liberals have cautioned that a lot of regulations are there for a reason – particularly when it comes to public health and preventing things like fraud and other crimes against vulnerable individuals. While the Environmental Protection Agency has received the most attention in this area, here are some of the newly diminished rules that you may have missed.
High time for blunt enforcement: Today Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who favors the War on Drugs, issued a guidance killing Obama-era rules that kept federal prosecutors from making marijuana a priority in places where it’s legal. Recreational use of the drug is legal in eight states and Washington, D.C., and more than half of all states in the country allow medical use. In those places, federal prosecutors will now have more leeway to pursue marijuana cases, but that doesn’t mean they will decide to do so.
Offshore drilling safety: Today the Trump administration announced a plan that would dramatically expand the ability to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic and Pacific oceans, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. Just last month, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement had proposed reversing 2016 rules geared to improve offshore drilling safety. In response to the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 and caused one of the worst environmental disasters in American history, the safety rules included the certification of devices that prevent undersea wells from exploding. So, the bureau’s proposed rule would mean rig operators wouldn’t have to prove that they had working blowout preventers, the same part that failed in the Horizon spill in 2010.
Nursing homes: The Trump administration has gradually scaled back the use of fines against nursing homes that commit serious offenses. Unfortunately, serious violations are not uncommon in nursing homes, with 40 percent of facilities receiving citations for issues including neglect and mistreatment since 2013. Medicare issued fines to 2 out of 3 of those nursing homes that received citations. While trade groups like the American Health Care Association found the fines excessive, advocates for nursing home residents have expressed concerns that the fines had served as a deterrent for egregious violations.
Endangered animals caught in fishing nets: A rule meant to prevent endangered whales and sea turtles from getting caught in West Coast fishing nets met its end in June. The National Marine Fisheries Service killed the rule over concerns that it would have a negative impact on California and Oregon’s swordfishing fleet, adding that current safety measures adequately protect the animals. The rule would have applied to just 20 fishing vessels.
Contact Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@bigiftrue.org. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.