Business Regulation
Obama's Regulatory Machine Heats Up
Businesses large and small should brace for more federal regulations—from tougher trade rules to stricter workplace safety audits.
By the staff of The Kiplinger Letter
December 9, 2009
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Another slew of regulations is on tap from the Obama administration as Washington’s regulatory apparatus under Democratic leadership cranks into high gear.
In the works: a juiced-up Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Plans to beef up the agency are part of Congress’ efforts to create a new consumer financial protection agency. Legislation OK’d by a key House committee streamlines current rulemaking procedures, which now require that regulators gather extensive information from industries that would be affected. The commission would also get more authority to levy fines and to probe firms doing business with others known to have broken FTC rules.
The prospect of a more powerful FTC has businesses fretting about regulators running amok, particularly since the FTC is already doing more muscle flexing under the Obama regime. And look for the agency to turn up the heat on privacy. This winter, it will host several roundtables to hash over how media companies, advertisers, retailers, Internet ad networks and others collect and use consumer information.
A pending overhaul of food safety laws will get the nod early next year. Food producers will have to develop hazard prevention programs, closely monitoring and controlling contamination risks. Importers will have to verify foreign food safety. The Food and Drug Administration will also get authority to issue mandatory recalls.
User fees will help pay for the increased government inspections. But the Senate is likely to insist that taxpayers also bear some of the burden.
Another headache for the trucking industry: a ban on texting by drivers, who often rely on it to receive and reply to dispatchers’ messages about changes in routing, pickups and deliveries. Look for the feds to bar such messaging by big-rig drivers before summer as part of a general crackdown on distracted driving. By the end of next year, all motorists will likely face the same restriction.
Truckers will turn to new technology for a solution: voice enabled systems, such as PeopleNet’s Blu system. It communicates messages to truck drivers using a computer generated voice to give drivers revised routing information, including turn-by-turn instructions. If drivers need more details from dispatchers, they must pull over to use the keyboard, which is locked when the truck is in motion.
Within a few years, expect even more technology options to reduce truck driver distractions. A new speech recognition system by IBM will vocalize messages to drivers and let them talk back. It will know when to hush up, too, going silent if drivers make sudden turns or slam on the brakes so as not to distract them in a possible emergency.
Other fronts where the Obama administration is ratcheting up regulations:
Curbs on air pollution by power plants -- aimed at reducing emissions of mercury, arsenic, lead and other toxic metals plus soot. The Environmental Protection Agency will finalize the rules by November 2011, replacing less stringent Bush regulations that were struck down by the courts.
Tighter limits on dust for underground coal mines. Mine safety watchdogs intend to crack down soon on the coal dust, which causes black lung disease.
And stricter audits by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of work related injuries, requiring inspectors, for example, to interview workers to help sniff out underreporting by employers.
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Reader Comments (5)
Posted by: JR at 12/09/2009 03:38:48 PM
This is sad information for the US. Tougher and more regulation on business will have a negative impact on economic growth. Give it a rest for a while or pump some of that monopoly money into R&D for solutions to the perceived problems or better yet use some of the money to identify the true problem instead of blanket regulation. Big businesses will become small businesses and small business will cease to exist when over regulated. OSHA if fine but many times some of the young inspectors go on witch hunts within large businesses just to make a name for themselves. I have seen this happen many times. The thought being big business has big bucks so no problem however not applying rules to all business in a segment causes competition problems. OSHA can and is selective when it comes to applying rules. Fortunately now I am outside their jurisdiction now so I can say they are are not fair without retaliation. They are truly vendictive if you are on their "bad" side.
Posted by: Alan at 12/09/2009 04:45:06 PM
First of all, I have voted Republican all of my life and am 65. But... Has anyone noticed that except for rules about power plants, everyone of the items noted are for safety of individuals. I think we ALL want safer food; not to have to share the road with 30 tons of steel driven by someone texting; limits on coal dust, which explodes in addition to causing black lung disease and even closer monitoring of compliance with these and other safety regulations. My background is a military career. Safety HAD to be a culture and we had to strive for it constantly. Our civilians deserve no less.
Posted by: Hoffman at 12/09/2009 07:15:49 PM
Lack of regulation is what has got us into various and deep messes over the past decade. Deregulation is the mantra of business, it seems.
Posted by: Monica at 02/15/2010 10:55:52 PM
Saw an ad on my internet provider recently saying Obama revises auto insurance regulations to reduce rates for those who drive less than 2 hours a day. Is this for real, and if so, where are the facts actually to be found?
Posted by: Captain Obvious at 02/16/2010 02:14:50 PM
This article acts like improved safety and keeping manufacturing jobs in the US is a bad thing. The big business political lobbyists have done a brainwash job on the middle class while they increase profits by sending operations overseas and cutting jobs here. I don't care how you spin it, manufacturing overseas and then importing goods is never good for citizens. Ban on texting? It's illegal to text and drive in most states, why should truckers be exempt?