"Tozzi, now almost a legendary figure in the world of federal regulations, worked for five consecutive administrations" from Lyndon Johnson's to Ronald Reagan's "to get the Office of Management and Budget to review the regulations agencies were busy churning."
The Federal Times, November 8, 2002

One-Act Farce: Deregulation by Disputation
"Nominally, the [Data Quality] Act's sponsoring representative was Jo Ann Emerson, Republican of Missouri, a former lobbyist who gained her seat on 1996 after the death of her husband, eight-term congressman Bill Emerson, from lung cancer. But in reality, the act was written by Jim Tozzi….

"…Finally conservatives and corporate lobbyists have found a bureaucracy they like. With the law in effect, its author, Jim Tozzi, now can devote himself to filing complaints under it."
Harper's Magazine, June 2003

The Tozzi Decision: Another Arrow in Manufacturers’ Quiver in Product Defense Wars
"Tozzi [v. Department of Health and Human Services] is a positive development, and provides industry with reason to cheer."
EPA Administrative Law Reporter, November 2001, Volume 18, Number 5

Industry-Funded Group Proposes Executive Order to Overhaul Regulatory Settlements
"An industry-backed group has drafted an executive order that if adopted by the Bush Administration would overhaul the process for reviewing legal settlements to regulatory disputes. The draft order would dramatically expand the role of industry and the general public in reviewing consent decrees and settlements resolving lawsuits against EPA and other federal agencies, which can often involve revised regulatory policies."

"The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) sent the draft executive order, along with a letter, on Sept. 4 to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), arguing that settlements negotiated between government agencies and outside groups often affect the general public in ways that government agencies fail to take into account. ‘These judgments and agreements,’ the order says, ‘can result in regulatory action or inaction that substantially affects many people who are not parties in the litigation. Non-parties often have no opportunities to participate in or comment on the consent judgment or settlement agreement even though their rights and duties may be determined by the judgment or settlement.’"

"CRE describes itself as a regulatory watchdog that offers industry groups guidance on navigating the federal regulatory process."
Inside EPA, September 6, 2002

Data Quality Politics
"If you want a glimpse of the [data quality] guidelines’ future political use, check out the Web site of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (www.thecre.com). Already, the organization has filed notice of its intent to sue the Energy Department for not publishing data quality guidelines."
Federal Computer Week, July 29, 2002

Garbage In, Regulation Out: When It Comes to Cooking Books, The Feds Are Gourmets
"Interestingly, something like this might be in store for federal agencies as a result of a little-noticed law, the Federal Data Quality Act, signed by President Clinton on his way out the door. It was drafted by the pro-business Center for Regulatory Effectiveness in Washington, and inserted into the mammoth year-end appropriations bill in late 2000 by Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R., Mo.). ‘The White House noticed it and asked some questions about it, but there was so much going on—Florida, the Clinton pardons and the need to get the appropriations done—that it couldn’t be stopped,’ says Jim Tozzi, co-founder of CRE and a long-time staffer at the Office of Management and Budget."

Regulatory Information Should be Subject to Correction Mechanism, Industry Tells EPA
"William Kelly, of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, seconded the suggestion that EPA apply its own Lessons Learned document."

"Kelly disagreed with several comments EPA made in its draft proposal stating that the application of the guidelines is not mandatory. Kelly cited both the law that spurred OMB’s guidance and a second, related law and said, ‘the agency is required to comply with OMB’s guidelines. It is not discretionary. It’s required by law.’"
Bureau of National Affairs, Daily Environment Report, June 16, 2002

"The overarching effect of the CRE comments is clearly to make the data quality guidelines apply to as much as possible and to be as binding as possible. The CRE decried the exemptions of certain types of information and dissemination from the data quality guidelines comments."
OMB Watch, The Watcher, June 10, 2002 Vol. 3 No. 12

Conservatives Seek Formal Withdrawal of EPA Study Citing Global Warming Impacts
"During the waning days of the Clinton administration, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and Reps. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) and Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI), along with CEI, filed a lawsuit against the assessment, alleging that the development of the report violated several laws, including the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, an anti-regulatory group, has also petitioned the White House to withdraw the assessment because the group charges it is biased on ‘inadequate and incomplete science.’"
Inside EPA, June 5, 2002

Questions About Online Data
"The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, a primary backer of the Data Quality Act, has already started requesting changes in government information that is published in print and online."

"This year, the center requested that the United States Global Change Research Program withdraw dissemination of the National Assessment on Climate Change on the basis of ‘numerous data quality and scientific flaws,’ according to the letter posted on the group’s Web site."

"The center also asked the Environmental Protection Agency to modify its
Web site on global warming to reflect the scientific uncertainties about global climate change."

"William Kelly, western representative for the center, said the poor quality of federal data created problems for everyone who sued it, from regulators to consumers."

"’With the blossoming of the Internet, it’s turned into a huge problem for industry,’ Mr. Kelly said. ‘Agencies were encouraged to post virtually everything on the Internet. It wasn’t such a problem when people had to go through a Freedom of Information Act request.’"
New York Times, June 3, 2002

Tussle Over New Rules on Federal Data
"The [Data Quality] act was first proposed by a group called the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, which acknowledges criticism that the law will delay some important rules."

"’Some of those criticisms are fair,’ said director Jim Tozzi, ‘it is going to have some immediate slow-down effect.’ But long term, he said, the law will benefit everyone by improving the rules we live by."

"Not only will government have to live by the law, he said, but so too will businesses and activists since they’ll have to make sure their data is solid when trying to influence policymaking."
MSNBC, March 21, 2002

Web Sites Track Regulatory Changes
"The conservative, business oriented Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, and its site (thecre.com) analyzes rules and the process of regulation. It's run by Jim Tozzi, who was a deputy administrator at the Office of Management and Budget from 1972 to 1983. He's now a consultant to business on regulatory issues.

"Tozzi said his readers are executives of Fortune 500 companies and government staffers: 'We want them to look at our positions to influence what they are working on.'

"During the recent debate over the ergonomics rule intended to prevent repetitive-stress injuries, Tozzi said, 'people were e-mailing us with questions from the Hill during the vote. We had a direct impact into the legislative process.'"
The Washington Post, April 24, 2001

Saccharin Is Removed by Government from List of Known Human Carcinogens
"In response to the nomination, regulatory consultant Jim Tozzi and a group of New York restaurant owners filed suit last year naming the government officials responsible for the report. The plaintiffs claim the government isn't following its own rules, because the upgrade of dioxin was based on animal studies, when human data are needed."
The Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2000

Little-Noticed Law Raises Standard for Federal Rules
"More and more, federal agencies are setting policy without actually regulating by distributing information via the Internet that carries the effect of regulation, said Jim Tozzi of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, a watchdog group that lobbied hard for the new law.

"Studies and policy statements posted on agency websites 'have a lot of impact - they might encourage litigation, they might encourage local governments to regulate,' Tozzi said."
AP News Wire

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