Tag Archives: United States

Sally Katzen

Posted on by
Reply

Collection: Perspectives on Modern Regulatory Governance
Dates of interview: October – November 2012
Interviewer: Edward Balleisen and Jonathan Wiener
Interview length: ~8 hours
Transcript: (PDF)
Location of interview: Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University, Durham, NC

Brief biography: Sally Katzen was the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) during the Clinton Administration from 1993 to 1998.  Katzen completed her undergraduate degree at Smith College and went on to the University of Michigan School of Law, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review.  Katzen was the first woman to hold such a position on any major law review.  After completing law school, Katzen became a partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, where she specialized in administrative law and regulation.  Katzen first entered government service as the General Counsel of the Council on Wage and Price Stability from 1979 to 1981, and later returned to public service as the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) from 1993 to 1998.  Since leaving OIRA, Katzen has held various positions in academia, government service, and the private sector; she is currently a Senior Advisor at the Podesta Group and a visiting professor at the New York University School of Law.

Brief summary: These interviews survey an incredibly broad range of topics in regulatory governance and law, spanning from the early days of television regulation to air quality standards to food safety rules, and outlining key institutional connections between the Council on Wage and Price Stability and the modern OIRA.  In addition to its value to scholars interested in the process and possibilities of effective regulatory policymaking, these interviews (particularly the first one) provide a valuable account of the experiences of women in the legal profession in the mid-twentieth century.

Time range of discussion: 1963-2012

(Keywords coming soon)

John D. Graham

Posted on by
Reply

Collection: Perspectives on Modern Regulatory Governance
Dates of interview: March 2, 2016 and April 21, 2016
Interviewer: Ashton Merck, Edward Balleisen (Jonathan Wiener – first interview only)
Interview length: Two sessions of approximately two hours each
Transcript: (PDF)
Location of interview: Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University, Durham, NC

Brief biography: John D. Graham was the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) from 2001-2006. Graham holds an M.A. in Public Affairs from Duke University and a B.A. from Wake Forest University, and received his Ph.D. in Urban and Public Affairs from Carnegie Mellon University. Graham is a leading scholar in the field of risk analysis and cost-benefit analysis, authoring or co-authoring 10 books and over 200 articles. Graham founded the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis in 1989 and directed it until he left for OIRA in 2001. After leaving OIRA, Graham became an academic administrator; Graham is currently the Dean of the School for Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.

Brief summary: The first interview provides an overview of Graham’s early life and professional trajectory as an academic, concluding with his nomination for the position of OIRA Administrator, and describing the experience of the Senate confirmation process. The second interview discusses Graham’s tenure as OIRA administrator, including several significant changes to OIRA’s policies and practices, as well as the substance of several key regulations that were subjected to OIRA review during Graham’s term in office. The interview includes a discussion of Graham’s career since completing his service in government, and some reflections on the past and future of regulatory review.

Time range of discussion: 1978-2015

Agencies mentioned:
Office of Management and Budget
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Council on Competitiveness
Council on Wage and Price Stability
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Environmental Protection Agency
National Transportation and Highway Safety Administration
Office of Science and Technology Policy

Institutions mentioned:
Brookings Institution
Center for Science and the Public Interest
Harvard University Kennedy School of Government
Harvard Center for Risk Analysis
Harvard School of Public Health
ILSI International Life Sciences Institute
Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Mercatus Center
National Academy of Sciences
National Science Foundation
Office of Economic Cooperation and Development
Pardee RAND School
Resources for the Future
Union of Concerned Scientists

Firms mentioned:
BASF/Bayer, Cummins Engine, DuPont, Dow Chemical, Rohm and Haas, Shell

Legislation, rules, and judicial rulings mentioned:
Circular A-4
Information Quality Act
REACH (EU)
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO v. American Petroleum Institute, et al. 448 U.S. 607 (1980) (the “benzene decision”)
Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association of the United States, Inc., et al. v. State Farm Automobile Insurance Company et al., 463 U.S. 29 (1983)

Locations mentioned:
Carnegie Mellon University
Duke University
Harvard University
Washington, D.C.

Regulatory concepts discussed:
cost-benefit analysis
impact assessment
prompt letter
return letter
risk assessment

People mentioned:
Nancy Beck
Eula Bingham
James Blumstein
Joshua Bolten
Stephen Breyer
James S. Coleman
Susan Collins
Robert W. Crandall
Mitch Daniels
Tom Daschle
Bob Dole
Dick Durbin
Christopher Edley, Jr.
John Evans
Harvey Fineberg
Arthur Finkelstein
Steven Garber
Newt Gingrich
Wendy Gramm
Laura Green
Thomas Grumbly
Patricia Gwaltney (McGinnis)
Jim Hammond
Dennis Hastert
Jeff Holmstead
Al Hubbard
Bennett Johnston
Sally Katzen
Lester Lave
Carl Levin
Joseph Lieberman
Charles Lindblom
Trent Lott
Granger Morgan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Paul Noe
Howard Raiffa
William Reilly
William Ruckelshaus
Eileen Serene
Olympia Snowe
Cass Sunstein
Kimberly Thompson
Fred Thompson
James Vaupel
Arnold Weber
Milt Weinstein
Christie Todd Whitman
Jonathan Wiener

Selected bibliography for additional background:

  • Graham, John D., and James W. Vaupel. “The Value of a Life: What Difference Does It Make?” In Risk/Benefit Analysis in Water Resources Planning and Management, 233–43. Springer US, 1981.
  • Graham, John D., and Patricia Gorham. “NHTSA and Passive Restraints: A Case of Arbitrary and Capricious Deregulation.” Administrative Law Review, 1983, 193–252.
  • Tengs, Tammy O., Miriam E. Adams, Joseph S. Pliskin, Dana Gelb Safran, Joanna E. Siegel, Milton C. Weinstein, and John D. Graham. “Five-Hundred Life-Saving Interventions and Their Cost-Effectiveness.” Risk Analysis 15, no. 3 (1995): 369–90.
  • Graham, John D. “The Perils of the Precautionary Principle: Lessons from the American and European Experience.” Vol. 818. Heritage Foundation, 2004.
  • Graham, John D., Paul R. Noe, and Elizabeth L. Branch. “Managing the Regulatory State: The Experience of the Bush Administration.” Fordham Urban Law Journal 33 (2005): 953.
  • Bagley, Nicholas, and Richard L. Revesz. “Centralized Oversight of the Regulatory State.” Columbia Law Review 106, no. 6 (2006): 1260–1329.
  • Graham, John D. “Saving Lives through Administrative Law and Economics.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 2008, 395–540.
  • Wiener, Jonathan Baert, and John D. Graham. Risk vs. Risk: Tradeoffs in Protecting Health and the Environment. Harvard University Press, 2009.

Select newspaper articles

  • Stephen Power, Jacob M. “Redrawing the Lines: Bush’s Rules Czar Brings Long Knife to New Regulations — `Smart’ Style Helps to Disarm Critics while Developing Business-Friendly Agenda — Outdoing EPA on Emissions.” Wall Street Journal, Jun 12, 2002, Eastern edition.
  • Cindy Skrzycki, “Nominee’s Business Ties Criticized,” The Washington Post, May 15, 2001, E01.
  • “Graham’s Cracker.” Wall Street Journal, Jun 27, 2001, Eastern edition.
  • Ellen Nakashima, “Influence of Industry on Rules Agency Questioned,” The Washington Post, March 13, 2002, A27.
  • Ellen Nakashima, “For Bush’s Regulatory ‘Czar,’ The Equation Is Persuasion; Graham Wields Cost-Benefit Analysis For, Against Rules,” The Washington Post, May 10, 2002, 35.
  • ———. “Regulations Face Stiffer Review in Win for Bush Business Allies.” Wall Street Journal, Aug 29, 2003, Eastern edition.
  • Judith Weinraub, “The Hidden Fat; Some scientists have known about the dangers of trans fats for more than two decades. What took the government so long?” The Washington Post, September 10, 2003, F01.
  • McKinnon, John D. “How U.S. Rules are made is Still a Murky Process.” Wall Street Journal, Oct 22, 2003, Eastern edition.
  • Alex Fryer, “Bush administration’s gatekeeper weighs costs, benefits of new regulations.” Seattle Times, September 29, 2004.
  • Cindy Skrzycki, “Report Sheds Light on Changing Role of Regulation,” The Washington Post, January 25, 2005, E01.
  • Rick Weiss, “’Data Quality’ Law Is Nemesis Of Regulation,” The Washington Post, August 16, 2004, A1.
  • Cindy Skrzycki, “Looking Back on the Presidents’ Policy Wonks,” The Washington Post, November 1, 2005, D01.

Lyndon Johnson Library

Posted on by
Reply

The Lyndon Johnson library website hosts numerous fully transcribed and searchable oral history interviews. Topics span Johnson’s full political career, including his time in the House and Senate, as vice president to John Kennedy and as president. Some interviewees themselves had long political careers as civil servants and elected officials. Therefore, researchers interested in regulatory politics of the entire post-war period should search the LBJ library for relevant content.

Unlike some other presidential library oral history projects (see for example the summary of the Carter library), regulation is not a focal point of the LBJ library interviews. Consequently, relevant discussions are scattered throughout the interviews and are often only incidental to any given interview’s general themes.

Nevertheless, some themes of interest do emerge. Interviews that focus on LBJ’s Congressional career include topics pertaining to energy policy and the challenges and opportunities these posed for Johnson as a delegate from Texas. Oil and gas regulation, particularly pertaining to the 1956 “Bill to Amend the Natural Gas Act,” receive attention for its importance of LBJ’s career trajectory and establishment of his position as a national figure. Great Society and Civil Rights legislation, hallmarks of the LBJ administration, also contained regulatory provisions. The follow is a partial list, roughly in descending order of prevalence, of regulatory topics addressed in the transcribed and searchable LBJ library interviews.

  • Oil and Natural Gas (Texas Railroad Commission (in the context of energy policy))
  • Antitrust enforcement though the Justice Department (especially during the Kennedy administration)
  • Regulation of the outdoor advertising industry
  • Lobbying by interest groups and influence on regulatory policy making
  • Kennedy-era attempts to reorganize regulatory agencies
  • Route assignments by the Civil Aeronautics Board
  • Regulatory commission appointments
  • FDA response to the thalidomide tragedy
  • USPS regulations
  • Interviews pertaining to the institution of Medicare and Medicaid and certain provisions of the Civil Rights Act may also have content pertaining to regulation

This list is not exhaustive. It only reflects topics that emerged in an initial survey.  See suggested search strategies for ideas on how to more thoroughly explore this archive’s offerings.

Summary by:  Elizabeth Brake

John F. Kennedy Library

Posted on by
Reply

The John F. Kennedy Library provides access to over a thousand fully transcribed and searchable interviews. These interviews are also categorized by subject term, and an initial survey of relevant subject terms revealed 10 interviews with significant regulatory content. There are likely more.

These interviews are most useful for understanding public/private partnerships in utilities markets, especially electrical power and emerging commercial satellite communications. In the realm of environmental regulation, policies under the purview of the Department of Interior such as mining and mine safety, forest management and fire responses, and the use of federal lands and resources to generate and transmit electrical power garner the most attention. Rural electrification and the structure of power “wheeling” agreements in the west receive much discussion.

Researchers interested in the regulation of the communications industries will also find interviews of interest. Some interviews provide extensive discussion of the FCC, the State Department and the development of the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT) to provide and regulate multinational commercial satellite communications, as well as the development and regulation of cable television.

Other interviews examine the workings of the Federal Trade Commission and the role of the Council of Economic Advisors is shaping economic policy during the Kennedy Administration.

Summary by:  Elizabeth Brake

Jimmy Carter Library

Posted on by
Reply

The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum website hosts an inventory of oral histories created by multiple research projects, and housed in several repositories, pertaining to the Carter Administration and Carter’s post-presidential diplomatic and humanitarian career. Selected interviews have transcripts available online.  The Carter Library’s full inventory of oral histories is available at their website.

A sampling of transcribed interviews identified materials from the Carter Library’s “Exit Interview Project” and the University of Virginia’s Miller Center “Carter Project” (also cataloged at the Carter library) containing significant content of interest to scholars of regulation. These interviews are especially useful for those interested in deregulation and in consumer protection.

National Archives personnel conducted exit interviews with Carter Administration staffers at all levels as they completed their terms in office. The bulk of these interviews occurred during and immediately following the transition between the Carter and Regan administrations. They focus primarily on administrative and legislative process, although they do offer some assessments of the administration’s overall accomplishments. The Miller Center’s interviews took place in the 1980s, and interviewees were high-ranking officials rather than lower-level staffers. These interviews focus on assessments of the administration’s work as well as economic and ideological approaches to regulatory policy.

Interviews pertaining to deregulation cover legislative and administrative processes during the Carter Administration as well as the political and ideological impetus behind the deregulation movement that characterized Carter’s legislative agenda. Topics include the deregulation of the trucking and airline industries.  Interviews, especially those from the Exit Interview collection, place heavy emphasis on the actions of the White House’s Office of Domestic Policy in achieving deregulatory goals. The details surrounding the passage of legislation deregulating the trucking and airline industries receive particular attention.

The Cater years also saw the defeat of a bill that would have created a cabinet-level consumer protection agency within the federal government. Interviews with officials associated with the Office of Consumer Affairs detail the failed attempt to pass the Consumer Protection Act, including negotiations with Congress, the degree to which the Carter Administration supported the bill. Also of interest are interviews that detail the administrative efforts of the Office of Consumer Affairs staff to increase the office’s standing to weigh in on behalf of consumers in the regulatory policy development of other agencies.

Other topics, which received less coverage, include the accident at Three Mile Island, the EPA, FDA, and OSHA.

Suggested Keywords:  Deregulation; Domestic Policy Office; ICC; FCC; Consumer Protection Act; Office of Consumer Affairs; Three Mile Island; NRC; EPA; Clean Air Act; Federal Energy Administration; OSHA

Summary by:  Elizabeth Brake

Gerald Ford Library

Posted on by
Reply

The Ford Library houses several oral history projects including the Gerald Ford Library Oral History Project, 1981-Present. These interviews are not sufficiently described online to determine if they have significant regulation-related content.  Interviewees include the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Transportation, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, the Secretary of the Interior, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Commerce. These interviews likely include discussions relevant to regulation.

Within the manuscript collections, the John Robson Papers, 1970-93, contains an interview transcript entitled “The Move to Airline Deregulation: Perspective of Former CAB Chairman John E. Robson.” The William E. Simon microfiche of papers, 1972-1977, housed at the Lafayette College Library but linked from the Ford Library, include an extensive oral history interview (1000+ pages) with the former Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury. Neither of these transcripts are available online.

Summary by:  Elizabeth Brake

Texas House Speakers Oral History Project

Posted on by
Reply

Project description: The project overview indicates that the primary emphasis of these interviews is on party politics and the power of the Speaker of the House in Texas politics, covering the era from 1951 to the present. The overview does not indicate specific legislation or policy areas covered. These issues seem to be of secondary importance to party and institutional concerns.

Repository: University of Texas – Austin

Interview dates: 1992, 2004 – 2006

Digital access: No online access.

Physical access: For access to interview materials, visit the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.

Link: Project overview, finding aid

Oral History of the Texas Oil Industry

Posted on by
Reply

Project description: This collection consists of 179 interviews transcribed and indexed interviews recorded with participants in the Texas oil industry. The finding aid characterizes interviewees as “roughnecks, drillers, promoters, financiers, contractors, leasemen and law officers.”

Regulatory significance: Difficult to assess given that the collection is not available online. If you are familiar with this collection, please contact us with more information.

Repository: University of Texas – Austin

Interview dates: 1952 – 1958

Digital access: No online access.

Physical access: For access to interview materials, visit the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Finding aid says that audio recording is by appointment only at archive, but seems likely from description of project that transcripts are available.

Link: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00282/cah-00282.html

Agriculture in Mississippi

Posted on by
Reply

Project description: The Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi houses many interviews related to agriculture in Mississippi, including interviews pertaining to agriculture, industry and commerce, and interviews with African American farmers.

Regulatory significance: Many interviewees discuss government regulation of their businesses, often in a negative context and as an additional reason for competitive problems during the 1970s and 1980s.

Repository: University of Southern Mississippi

Digital access: No online access.

Physical access: For access to interview materials, visit the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Link: http://www.usm.edu/oral-history/oral-history-collections-z#Agriculture%20in%20Mississippi

University of North Texas Legislative Project

Posted on by
Reply

Project description: This project was established by the Oral History program of North Texas State University in 1966, and it was still ongoing in 1985. The program appears to be discontinued now and the interviews absorbed into the broader UNT oral history program archives.

Regulatory significance: The project interviewed legislators and other state government officials, including regulatory board and commission members. Interviews occurred every two years, at the close of biennial legislative sessions and topics ranged across the spectrum of policy issues encountered during the session. (For a detailed description of project history and methodology, see Ronald E. Marcello, “Interviewing Contemporary Texas Legislators: An Atypical Approach,” The Public Historian 7:4 (Fall 1985): 53-64.)

Repository: University of North Texas

Interview dates: 1966 ~ 1990

Digital access: No online access. The UNT interview guide (linked below) has abstracts of archived interviews, including those produced though the Legislative Project.

Physical access: For access to transcripts, visit the Wills Library at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

Link: There is no dedicated link to this project, but see this pdf oral history guide for information that includes these interviews.

Integration and Health Care in North Carolina

Posted on by
Reply

Project description: This project deals with the origins and growth of the modern health care system in North Carolina, focusing on integration and its effects on health policy.

Regulatory significance: These interviews highlight the role that federal hospital regulations played in equalizing medical care for African Americans in the South.

Repository: University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Interview dates: 1997

Digital access: Transcripts for these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all audio and archived material, visit the Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC.

Link: Integration and Health Care in North Carolina

North Carolina Business History Project

Posted on by
Reply

Project description: These interviews are with leaders of traditional and emergent North Carolina industries, such as furniture, banking, tobacco products, textiles, poultry, food and food services, tourism, pharmaceuticals, computers, and steel. Interviewees describe the origins and evolution of their companies as well as the changes and problems they confront. They are also asked about the impact of businesses on the communities in which they operate and about the regional, national, and global developments that will affect their future prospects. [Description from the finding aid]

Regulatory significance: Many interviewees discuss government regulation of their businesses, often in a negative context and as an additional reason for competitive problems during the 1970s and 1980s.

Repository: University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Interview dates: 1995 – 1997

Digital access: Transcripts for many of these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all audio and archived material, visit the Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC.

Link: North Carolina Business History Project

Tobacco, History, and Memory in eastern North Carolina

Posted on by
Reply

Project description: Twelve interviews, seven of which discuss in some detail the anticipated end (1998 interviews) or actual end (2011 interviews) of the tobacco allotment program or “buy out.”

Regulatory significance: Topics include the mechanics of program implementation and the anticipated effects of discontinuance, and the effects of the buy-out.

Repository: University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Interview dates: 1998, 2011

Digital access: Transcripts for these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all audio and archived material, visit the Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC.

Link: Listening for a Change: Tobacco, History, and Memory

Nevada Test Site Oral History Project

Posted on by
Reply

Project description: This program consists of 150 interviews that document the history of the Nevada Test Site during the Cold War. Interviewees include: national laboratory scientists and engineers; support staff; inspectors; AEC/NRC officials; US Department of Energy officials, US Public Health Service officials; and EPA officials.

Regulatory significance: A brief examination of these interviews suggest that some interviews cover environmental and nuclear safety rules and regulations, from lab to federal levels. They possibly cover land use regulation, and jurisdictional questions regarding tribal lands. This is a robust collection, and a broader survey is required to take full stock of its regulatory richness.

Repository: University of Nevada at Las Vegas

Interview dates: 2003 – 2008

Digital access: Full transcripts available online; limited audio and video clips available online.

Link: http://digital.library.unlv.edu/ntsohp/

Bourbon in Kentucky Oral History Collection

Posted on by
Reply

Project description: This collection chronicles two Kentucky distilleries, Buffalo Trace and Jim Beam, with interviews from family members, employees, and local historians. Topics addressed in the collection include the history and process of bourbon production, governmental regulations of bourbon, the industry’s economic struggles and successes, family involvement in the companies, and the industry’s effect on the community.

Repository: University of Kentucky

Digital access: Thirteen interviews about the Buffalo Trace Distillery are accessible online as video with transcripts.

Physical access: For complete access to transcripts and audio, visit the Special Collections Library at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

Link: http://kentuckyoralhistory.org/collections/bourbon-kentucky-oral-history-collection