Communities are faced with the challenge of meeting regulatory requirements mandating reductions in water pollution from stormwater and combined sewer overflows (CSO).
Perhaps the most significant action by the Legislature this year was the passage of a bill mandating reductions in automobile emissions of carbon dioxide, the main gas that scientists say is building up in the atmosphere and causing global warming.
It is to reduce demand for fossil fuels, either by mandating reductions in their use, which Obama has done, or by slapping a fee on carbon dioxide emissions, which is the economically rational way to tackle climate change, and a version of which Europe and China have done.
Over the next few months, the E.P.A. will propose new "performance standards" governing largely unregulated greenhouse gas emissions from power plants; issue a final rule mandating reductions in toxic pollutants like mercury; and propose new state and local health standards for ozone.
The nation's Airborne Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, mandating reductions in coal use and emissions, has earmarked an estimated $277 billion to target regions with the heaviest pollution.That's just one of several policy efforts to limit coal's dominance in the economy and to encourage cleaner energy supplies.
Far from mandating reductions in carbon emissions or promoting access for poor countries to clean technologies, the proposed TiSA annex would actually limit the ability of governments (on national, regional, or local levels) to set policies that differentiate between polluting and carbon-based energy sources, such as oil and coal, from clean and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
This is six years ahead of the state's mandated reduction.
Federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have mandated reduction of hospital-acquired infections and recommended the use of antimicrobial catheters in clinical settings where central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates have remained high.
In reality, however, even as the French government introduces seemingly anti-market policies like a mandated reduction in the workweek, it has quietly allowed companies to exploit loopholes in the system -- using the shortened official workweek as an excuse to scrap old rules about worker scheduling, employing vast numbers of part-time workers, and so on.
Acute care nurse practitioners (ACNPs) are increasingly being employed as members of critical care teams, an outcome driven by increasing demand for intensive care services, a mandated reduction in house officer hours, and evidence supporting the ability of ACNPs to provide high-quality care as collaborative members of critical care teams.
