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About CPR

CPR's Mission

The Center for Progressive Regulation is a nonprofit research and educational organization of university-affiliated academics with expertise in the legal, economic, and scientific issues related to regulation of health, safety, and the environment. CPR supports regulatory action to protect health, safety, and the environment, and rejects the conservative view that government’s only function is to increase the economic efficiency of private markets. Through research and commentary, CPR seeks to inform policy debates, critique anti-regulatory research, enhance public understanding of the issues, and open the regulatory process to public scrutiny.

Founded in 2002, CPR is committed to developing and sharing knowledge and information, with the aim of preserving the fundamental value of the life and health of human beings and the natural environment. One component of the CPR's mission is to prepare and circulate academic papers, studies, and other analyses that promote public policy consistent with the social values that led to the enactment of the nation’s health, safety and environmental laws.  In particular, CPR shares its work with policymakers in the legislative and executive branches. CPR seeks to provoke debate on how the government’s authority and resources may best be used to preserve these values and to hold accountable those who violate them.

CPR also works to open the regulatory process to greater public scrutiny, and to strengthen decision-making by facilitating the participation of groups representing the public interest—groups that often struggle with limited information and access to proprietary technical information upon which regulators often rely.

CPR's work touches on a range of regulatory matters, including:

• cost/benefit analysis;
• risk assessment;
• the role of science in the regulatory process;
• devolution of federal authority to the states;
• the implications of budget shortfalls;
• enforcement policy and practice;
• so-called “second generation” proposals, including “market-based” remedies and “performance-based” systems; and
• secrecy in government.

How CPR Works

CPR’s “member scholars” are working academics, employed by universities or similar institutions. They represent diverse research agendas, areas of expertise, and geographical location. CPR is chaired by Thomas O. McGarity (University of Texas Law School), and its Board of Directors includes Lisa Heinzerling (Georgetown University Law Center), Christopher Schroeder (Duke University School of Law), Sidney A. Shapiro (University of Kansas Law School), and Rena Steinzor (University of Maryland School of Law). (University affiliations are for purposes of identification only.) CPR’s Scholars Group consists of a larger group of individuals who are united in their commitment to CPR’s mission and who volunteer their time for CPR projects.

For more information on CPR or the issues we work on, or to arrange interviews with CPR scholars, send email to CPRMedia@earthlink.net.