Bush Backs off on Mad Cow Prevention as Election Year Favor to Beef Industry

Agencies Postpone Issuing New Rules Until After Election
By STEPHEN LABATON

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 - After a case of mad cow disease surfaced in
Washington State late last year, federal regulators vowed to move swiftly to
adopt rules to reduce the risks of further problems and restore confidence
in the nation's meat industry.

Some rules were adopted this year. But a few weeks ago, the Food and Drug
Administration, after heavy lobbying from the beef and feed industries, took
steps to delay - and to the concern of food safety groups, possibly kill -
completion of the most controversial and perhaps most expensive proposal for
cattle companies.

That proposal would sharply restrict what could be included in animal feed.
Shortly after the administration slowed its consideration of the rule, the
National Cattlemen's Beef Association broke its nonpartisan tradition and
endorsed President Bush for re-election.

The F.D.A. decision was part of a broader pattern.

In recent weeks, federal agencies across the vast Washington bureaucracy
have delayed completion of a range of proposed regulations from food safety
and the environment to corporate governance and telecommunications policy
until after Election Day, when regulatory action may be more politically
palatable.

The delays come after heavy lobbying by industry organizations, including
the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, the cattle
and feed industries, the four regional Bell operating telephone companies,
big health care providers and timber and mining interests.

Some groups have been making their case for regulations that would make it
easier for miners and timber companies to develop forests, while others have
been advocating wholesale telephone rate rules that could significantly
increase prices to consumers. Many corporate executives, meanwhile, have
been arguing against a proposal that would give shareholders the ability to
remove directors of troubled companies.

Officials have decided to wait until after Election Day to respond to an
appeals court decision that struck down rules that would make it easier for
the largest media conglomerates to grow larger. And they are not expected to
issue rules that will determine prescription rates and coverage under the
new Medicare law until after the presidential election.

Both industry lobbyists and their critics say that the re-election of
President Bush would probably lead to the adoption of some regulations
favorable to industry and the rejection or watering down of others that
industry considers objectionable. Consumer groups, environmental
organizations and food safety experts, meanwhile, say that delays could lead
to significantly weaker rules that could increase prices on some products,
reduce safety and relax environmental protections.

While the delay of completing rules, known to lobbyists and policy makers as
"slow rolling,'' is common in a campaign season, some environmental groups
and consumer advocates say this year is different.

"Generally, regulatory submissions often get pushed off in election years,''
said Gene Kimmelman, a senior director of public policy at Consumers Union.

"What is unusual this time,'' he added, "is the clear pattern of holding
back regulatory decisions that will benefit the largest industry players and
will drive up prices and market place risks for consumers, ranging from
telephones to drugs to the risks of contaminants of food. The pattern of
slow rolling will ultimately benefit the largest players and hit consumers
in the pocketbook.''

Administration officials have denied such consequences, although they
acknowledge that they are generally inclined in each instance to take the
least restrictive approach and that they have been sympathetic to the
concerns of business interests. They also say that reducing regulations
reduces costs to industry and, thus, leads to lower prices for consumers.
The administration's critics say that although John Kerry, the Democratic
nominee for president, has taken a different position on some of the
regulations, electing him might not affect the outcome of some proposals
because the Bush administration would have almost three months after
Election Day to complete the rules.

"There could be a fire sale such as we've never seen post-election,'' said
Marty Hayden, legislative director for Earthjustice, one of several
environmental groups that is opposing a proposal to make it easier to build
roads in millions of acres of forests. Last week, the administration
announced that it was extending the comment period for the proposal so that
the final regulation could not be adopted before Election Day.

Slow rolling takes place before a presidential election because it is an
axiom of political life that agencies take no action that could give an
issue to the opponents of the incumbent administration.

After an election, by contrast, agency work often accelerates, particularly
in anticipation of a change in administration. Indeed, nearly four years
ago, the Bush administration - in its first two hours in office - imposed a
brief regulatory moratorium to take stock of the proposals that had been
rushed through agencies in the final days of the Clinton administration.

While that rhythm to rule making is inevitable, some experts say that this
year there are an unusually large number of controversial proposals, and
that they reflect both the tightness in the polls and the strong industry
ties to the White House. Those groups and others have prevailed upon policy
makers to delay some decisions in the hopes of killing some proposals and
relaxing some other rules after the election.

Blair Levin, a telecommunications analyst at Legg Mason who was a senior
official at the Federal Communications Commission in the Clinton
administration, said that in telecommunications policy, he "cannot recall a
time when there were these many important things waiting to be acted on.''

He said he expected that final rules on wholesale telephone rates, which
will be completed after the election, would result in price increases in the
range of 15 percent for existing customers, as well as price increases for
new customers.

Officials at several agencies said they had moved to reduce the profile of
controversial rule makings as the presidential campaign moves into the home
stretch.

"The president sets the focus right now,'' said Michael D. Gallagher, an
assistant commerce secretary who heads the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration. "That's the way it should be, and it's not for
us to get into old battles. The president should drive the message and we
should be reinforcing that. Hopefully we'll be able to do that for the next
60 days. After that, there's a very full plate of issues to be addressed.''