Overnight Regulation: Administration drops sustainability from diet guidelines

Welcome to Overnight Regulation, your daily rundown of news from Capitol Hill and beyond. It’s Wednesday evening here in Washington and we’re happy it’s hump day.

Here’s the latest.

 

THE BIG STORY

The Obama administration has decided that sustainability won’t be factored into the new guidelines for what Americans should and shouldn’t be eating. 

In a blog Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said evaluating the environmental impact of a food source is a critically important issue, but the guidelines “are not the appropriate vehicle for this important policy conversation.”

{mosads}”In terms of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), we will remain within the scope of our mandate in the 1990 National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act (NNMRRA), which is to provide ‘nutritional and dietary information and guidelines’ … ‘based on the preponderance of the scientific and medical knowledge,” they wrote in the joint blog on the Department of Agriculture’s website.

Earlier this year, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee — a federally appointed panel of nutritionists created in 1983 to help draft the guidelines — decided for the first time this year to factor in environmental sustainability in its recommendations. 

The move outraged the meat industry, which argued the advisory panel had neither the authority nor the expertise to make such a judgment about sustainability.

Burwell and Vilsack said they agree.

During a House Agriculture Committee hearing Wednesday, Vilsack said the law should restrict the guidelines to dietary information.

“The [Dietary Guidelines] Advisory Committee’s report is not the guidelines and sometimes there’s confusion about that,” he said. “The report informs our work, but it certainly does not and should not dictate it.”

USDA and HHS are drafting the guidelines together. Burwell said the agencies are expected to complete the guidelines in December. http://bit.ly/1RuithN

 

ON TAP FOR THURSDAY

The House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing to discuss how the Department of Labor’s new overtime regulations will impact small businesses and their employees. http://1.usa.gov/1L8PTkX

The House Education and Workforce Committee will hold a hearing to discuss the juvenile justice system and how it serves at-risk youth. http://1.usa.gov/1Q8pVOx

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing to ask initial questions on the Volkswagen emissions scandal. http://1.usa.gov/1OcmWXH

The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing to examine abortion procedures and medical ethics at Planned Parenthood. http://1.usa.gov/1L0k3We

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security will hold a hearing to examine the consumer product safety and recall process. http://1.usa.gov/1Mfa0i6

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet to consider S. 1814, a bill to withhold certain Federal funding from sanctuary cities and S.2123, a bill to reform sentencing laws and correctional institutions. http://1.usa.gov/1JTgJbm

 

TOMORROW’S REGS TODAY

The Obama administration will publish 170 new regulations, proposed rules, notices and other administrative actions in Thursday’s edition of the Federal Register.

–The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will review its safety standard for infant swings.

The agency is proposing to continue collecting information on the safety standard.

The public has 60 days to comment. http://bit.ly/1OYEvun

–The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will not protect the Sierra Nevada red fox, even though it admitted certain populations of the species are endangered or threatened.

The agency says it will place the Sierra Nevada population of the fox on a candidate list, which could lead to it eventually being listed as endangered, but it is not taking immediate action to issue protections, because it has more important priorities.

The findings go into effect immediately. http://bit.ly/1QZPJwt

–The FWS will propose to loosen protections for certain white-tailed deer.

The FWS is considering removing the Columbia River population of the Columbian white-tailed deer from the endangered species list and instead list it as a threatened species, which affords fewer protections.

“This proposal is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific data, which indicate that the species’ status has improved such that it is not currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range,” the agency wrote.

The public has 60 days to comment. http://bit.ly/1MePZEb

–The FWS will propose new protections for a small species of fish known as the Kentucky arrow darter.

The FWS is proposing to establish a critical habitat of 246 stream miles for the Kentucky arrow darter.

The public has 60 days to comment. http://bit.ly/1Zd6b2k

 

NEWS RIGHT NOW

Obama administration nixes sustainability from dietary guidelines. http://bit.ly/1LiDPOa

Beer giant merger falls flat. http://bit.ly/1jdEHt1

House Dems press for more recreational drone regulation. http://bit.ly/1FTDelS

House members push new bill to open courts to livestreams. http://bit.ly/1PiVCXe

Watchdog probes low morale at FEC. http://bit.ly/1j98UZG

Consumer bureau: No language blocking class-action suits. http://bit.ly/1L701XY

Black Chamber: Ex-Im has done nothing for us. http://bit.ly/1ZderPH

Feds file discrimination suit against chicken supplier Pilgrim’s Pride. http://bit.ly/1VEnutX

 

BY THE NUMBERS

29,000: How many comments the Agriculture Department and Health and Human Services received on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s report and recommendations.

$104 billion: How much Anheuser-Busch InBev offered to buy SABMiller on Wednesday.

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY 

“The Export-Import Bank wanted our help because they’ve been de-authorized and I’ve asked them to give me one loan they have made to a black business anywhere in this world. I’ve been waiting six months for that answer. They don’t do it — we are on our own,” — Harry Alford, president of the National Black Chamber of Commerce.

 

We’ll work to stay on top of these and other stories throughout the week, so check The Hill’s Regulation page (http://digital-staging.thehill.com/regulation) early and often for the latest. And send any comments, complaints or regulatory news tips our way, tdevaney@digital-staging.thehill.com or lwheeler@digital-staging.thehill.com. And follow us at @timdevaney and@wheelerlydia.

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