The News

nytimes.com — The Chinese government, struggling to contain the fallout from a scandal over contaminated milk and eggs, announced a wide range of food safety measures aimed at reining in abuses in the dairy industry. The State Council, China’s cabinet, issued several new rules it says will govern all aspects of the industry, from cow breeding and animal feed to the packaging and sales of the milk. Since September, when Chinese-made milk powder was found to be adulterated with the industrial chemical melamine, at least four infants who drank the formula have died and more than 50,000 children have fallen ill. The scandal has led to recalls of milk products across the world, embarrassed the Chinese government and devastated domestic dairy farmers and milk producers.

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hosted.ap.org — With the Bush administration on the verge of relaxing regulations protecting endangered species, Democratic leaders are looking at ways to overturn any last-minute rule changes. The Bush administration has until Friday to publish new rules in order for them to take effect before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in. Otherwise, Obama can undo them with the stroke of a pen. A rule eliminating the mandatory, independent advice of government scientists in decisions about whether dams, highways and other projects are likely to harm species looked likely to meet the deadline, leaving the only chance for a quick reversal to Congress. Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House will be looking at ways to overturn the final endangered species rules and other one-minute-to-midnight regulations.

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online.wsj.com — Manufacturers and retailers of children's products are asking the government to relax a requirement that they stop selling any inventory that doesn't meet tough new lead standards, beginning Feb. 10. Congress enacted the standards as part of a sweeping overhaul of U.S. product-safety rules in August 2008 after a spate of high-profile recalls of toys and other children's products, many because of high lead levels. U.S. manufacturers, distributors and retailers face penalties of up to $100,000 for each violation. Small and mid-size retailers and manufacturers, whose sales are already in the doldrums, say they could be especially hard hit. They have fewer resources to pay for testing and other costs. Many big companies have also already put tougher standards in place in anticipation of the new rules.

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washingtonpost.com — Democrats in the Senate called on President Bush to halt any effort by his administration to place political appointees in career jobs before he leaves office. The White House said there is no orchestrated effort to embed Bush loyalists in the federal workforce before Jan. 20. Between March 1 and Nov. 3, the Bush administration allowed 20 political appointees to become career civil servants. Six appointees to the Senior Executive Service, the government's most prestigious and highly paid employees, have received approval to take career jobs at the same level. Fourteen other political, or "Schedule C," appointees have also been approved to take career jobs. One candidate was turned down by the Office of Personnel Management, and two were withdrawn by the submitting agency.

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washingtonpost.com — The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas, even though half of the EPA's 10 regional administrators formally dissented from the decision and four others criticized the move in writing. The proposal would change the practice of measuring pollution levels near national parks, which is currently done over three-hour and 24-hour increments to capture emission spikes during periods of peak energy demand; instead, the levels would be averaged over a year. Under this system, spikes in pollution would no longer violate the law. Many national parks struggle with poor visibility shrouding otherwise spectacular vistas, as well as acid rain and other problems caused by air pollution.

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nytimes.com — The United States opened a branch of the Food and Drug Administration in the Chinese capital, the first of several overseas offices aimed at regulating the safety of imported food and medicine.The opening follows a string of scandals involving contaminated Chinese-made toothpaste, pet food, drugs and milk. In the coming months, the F.D.A. plans to open inspection stations in Shanghai and Guangzhou; offices are also to be opened in India and Latin America. “We’re opening up a new era, not just new offices,” said Mike Leavitt, the secretary of Health and Human Services, in announcing “a permanent F.D.A. presence in China.” But F.D.A. inspections have been disorganized, inefficient and ineffective, according to a recent report from the United States Government Accountability Office.

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