Understanding Government will soon issue a major report by Matthew Blake on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, pinpointing the CPSC’s unwillingness to confront manufacturers even when their products are clearly causing death and grievous injury.  When it comes to a product like nail guns, you would think CPSC would want to be out in front, but as Andrew McIntosh of the Sacramento Bee reports here, the agency has determined that a voluntary standard issued by the International Staple, Nail and Tool Association and a fairly ambiguous video you can download from the association’s web site should be enough to protect America’s construction workers and weekend carpenters.  Tens of thousands of injuries later, the CPSC has still not acted.

The deadline for the $50,000 Understanding Government Prize for Preventive Journalism is fast approaching — entries are due July 15.  Articles (individual or series) must have been published in a U.S. newspaper or periodical between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008 and must describe significant social problems and analyze potential solutions.  Thus, relevant topics will include:

– emerging problems that threaten to explode into major crises or

– existing public problems that can only be resolved through fresh approaches. 

Articles must assess government’s role in handling the problem.  

The award ceremony will be held in September 2008 in Washington, D.C.  For more information please click here or call Ned Hodgman at (202) 783-2439.

The Wall Street Journal’s Jane Zhang, Julie Jargon, and A.J. Miranda join forces for a look at the Food and Drug Administration’s failure to trace the origin of a salmonella outbreak. The outbreak has sickened 810 people over the past month, but it’s still not known where the bad tomatoes came from. In fact, it’s not even totally clear that tomatoes are causing the salmonella poisioning.

Consequently, the restaurant and supermarket industries say they’re losing millions. Perhaps this unsolved problem can have the silver lining of better regulated growing, processing and shipping for tomatoes and other staple foods.-MB

Yesterday the Washington Post’s Lyndsey Layton reported on the Pentagon fighting orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up military bases. In response, Layton reports today that  five Democratic Senators wrote to the Pentagon demanding 12 military bases with "cancer causing" contaminants get cleaned up.

Under the law, EPA can demand that any private company or federal agency clean up toxic chemicals. But EPA can’t sue other federal agencies and the Pentagon has asked other parts of government, namely the Office of Management and Budget, to intervene on its behalf. It’s another indication of the lack of respect the Bush administration has for EPA’s mandate. -MB