Country Life
Bureaucrats need to implement the law as it is written, not the law they wish they could have on the books.
More examples of inter-jurisdictional conflict.
‘A September letter from the EPA to the secretary of the Vermont Natural Resources Agency indicates that the state is failing to comply with the Clean Water Act and allowing pollution from farms, particularly phosphorus runoff, to discharge into Lake Champlain and other waterways, according to the Associated Press.
‘The Natural Resources Agency and Agriculture Food and Markets Agency both oversee agricultural water pollution in the state, but the split in responsibilities "is interfering with the regulation of Vermont's CAFOs and preventing Vermont from adequately addressing agricultural water quality," wrote David Cash, EPA administrator for Region 1 in Boston.
‘Despite programs already in place, it appears bureaucracy is impacting the effective enforcement of the rules, dating back over 15 years, per Cash's letter to the state.
‘"EPA has closely observed program operations in Vermont for well over a decade and despite having had ample time and opportunity to cure longstanding program deficiencies, many of which were outlined in the 2008 withdrawal petition, ANR has failed to do so," Cash wrote.’
Judicial Bureaucrats Can’t Defy Congress
Bureaucrats get called out trying to make rules that defy the statutes. To be fair, they probably don’t know what is in the statute.
‘For almost a year, the bureaucracy of the federal courts has been on a crusade against so-called single-judge divisions: federal district courts where one judge hears the cases. These divisions are mostly in rural areas, including my home state of Kentucky. The logistical challenges rural litigants frequently face seeking justice in far-flung locations make these courthouses invaluable.
‘The judicial bureaucracy doesn’t see it that way. It has been embarrassed by the ability of conservative, rural litigants to bring their cases in front of specific judges — often in Texas. Of course, this same bureaucracy turns a blind eye to the uniformly liberal district courts where progressive litigants are guaranteed a sympathetic outcome regardless of the judge they draw.
‘So this spring, the judicial bureaucracy proposed to randomly assign certain cases across entire districts. This would mean a litigant who files in a single-judge division in Amarillo could be required to travel to Dallas (more than 300 miles away) for their case. This proposal was presented as a binding rule by the Judicial Conference of the United States to much fanfare from the press and the Left.’
Regulations being considered by California air board could dramatically raise gas prices
The Rube Goldberg machine that is California refinery regulation may lead to significant increases in the prices in gasoline.
‘According to the Los Angeles Times, the plan would limit the carbon intensity in fuels by expanding a program instituted in 2011 that penalized refineries that create high-carbon fuel, like diesel and gasoline. New regulations would increase the penalties, thus increasing the price of production.
‘In September of last year, CARB estimated the regulations could raise gas prices by 47 cents per gallon, but analysts, according to The Times, say customers at the pump could be paying 65 cents more per gallon if the regulations go through.’
Matt Yglesias on regulation and deregulation
Historically, it has taken two to tango on regulatory reform.
Will a putative Trump administration be able to break this pattern?
‘That’s what Republican presidents do. Deregulatory efforts tend to happen when market-oriented thinkers persuade some prominent Democrats that they’re right about something, and then bipartisan deals get made. Also note that there’s something funny about the extent to which Carter has become retroactively famous for legalizing home brewing rather than, say, the natural gas thing, which legitimately transformed the national and global economy.’
Wonderful.
‘In the UK, if you own chickens you now have to register them with the government. So people are registering roast chickens they've bought at the supermarket and they've crashed the government website... ‘