BushCo's Midnight Moves to circumvent the system.

From ProPublica:

Here is a rundown of rules and regulations that the Bush administration is pushing through the rulemaking process in its waning days. We will update the list regularly by adding new rules, inserting links to breaking news on each rule, and tracking each rule through the rulemaking process. If you know of other rules we should add to this list, please send us an email here. You can use our tip-sheet to get started on your rules research.

Just the beginning of the end for this bag o' batshit. These to me, are worse than the pardons he will hand out on his last day in office as they screw all of us and enrich someone, some company or some group that this administration owes. Just a few of them below for you to peruse m'dear reader:

EPA Won’t Regulate a Contaminant in Drinking Water
Agency: Environmental Protection Agency

Formal Name: Drinking Water: Preliminary Regulatory Determination on Perchlorate

At Issue: Perchlorate is a chemical component of rocket fuel that can contaminate water both naturally and, more frequently, through improper disposal at rocket test sites, military bases and chemical plants. Cleaning it up would cost billions of dollars. But the contaminant has been linked to thyroid problems in young children, pregnant woman and newborns, leaving critics concerned for the developmental health of those most vulnerable to the chemical's effects.


Uranium Mining Permits Near Grand Canyon Could Increase
Agency: Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management

Formal Name: Land Withdrawals; Removal of Regulations Covering Emergency Withdrawals

At Issue: The Bureau of Land Management proposed a rule that would prevent Congress from slowing a flood of uranium mining permits being issued near the Grand Canyon.


Employees of Mutual Fund and Other Investment Companies Could Offer Advice to Their Own Investors
Agency: Department of Labor

Formal Name: Prohibited Transaction Exemption for Provision of Investment Advice to Participants in Individual Account Plans

At Issue: The Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would allow employees of financial institutions to provide investment advice to people with individual investment accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, even if the consultant has a financial interest in the advice. The advisers would be required to disclose to their clients any fees they may receive in connection with the investment options. The DOL argues that this rule will make it possible for millions more Americans to receive valuable advice.


The Interior Department Could Approve Construction Projects with Less Concern for Protected Species
Agency: Department of the Interior

Formal Name: Interagency Cooperation Under the Endangered Species Act

At Issue: The Department of the Interior wants to allow agencies to make their own determination of whether a development project, such as highway or dam construction, would significantly harm protected species, rather than relying on extensive scientific review as they have done previously. The DOI said this will eliminate or reduce cumbersome consultations in situations where the effects “are so inconsequential, uncertain, unlikely or beneficial that they are, as a practical matter, tantamount to having no effect on listed species or critical habitat.” Critics worry about giving so much discretion to federal agencies that may lack scientific expertise.

EPA Lets Factory Farms Decide If They Need A Permit to Discharge Animal Waste into Waterways
Agency: Environmental Protection Agency

Formal Name: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Regulation and Effluent Limitation Guidelines and Standards for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

At Issue: The rule, formulated to address practices voided by a Federal Appeals Court ruling, asks companies that run confined animal feeding operations to voluntarily apply for permits to discharge waste into waterways. If the operators don’t think they pollute enough, they are under no obligation to get permits.

Ain't those simply friggin grand? Christ, wotta criminal load of crappola. Check out the rest here.