Jim Tozzi
Encyclopedia
Dr. James J. "Jim" Tozzi (born 1938) is a lobbyist in Washington, D.C.; he is head of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness
, a watchdog group that specializes in data quality, and is a former regulatory official of the United States Office of Management and Budget
(OMB).
Jim Tozzi got his Ph.D. in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Florida
. After some time playing jazz as a self-described “bottom-tier” musician in New Orleans, Tozzi began working in Washington in 1964 at the Department of Defense
, Office of the Secretary of the Army, where he worked on budget and strategic response issues. Tozzi served as an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers.
and the establishment of the OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
in 1980. Under his directorship, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs was the gatekeeper for virtually all proposed regulations dealing with public health and safety. It quickly became known among watchdog groups as a bureaucratic “black hole” where proposed regulations disappeared.
Tozzi was the Deputy Administrator of OMB in charge of the OIRA (and therefore of the regulatory agencies) when he left the organization in 1983 at age 45. He had also been the head of the Federal Ad Hoc Group on Toxic Torts, and had earned the nickname 'Stealth' for his ability to sneak in quietly and bomb agency attempts at regulation.
Between 1983 and 1986 he was employed as a 'consultant economist' by Beveridge & Diamond, the law firm of William Ruckleshaus, ex-administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and now contracted to the chemical industry. The firm's key lobbyist was J Marshall Coleman (ex State Attorney General) who was counsel to Dow Chemical and working in close relationship with the Chemical Manufacturing Association's American Industrial Health Council (AIHC), along with Edison Electric Institute, and the Society of the Plastic Industry.
) and James Tozzi founded the lobbying company Multinational Business Services (MBS), and its not-for-profit Federal Focus, Inc, (a 501(c)(3) non-profit 'foundation') which was funded largely by Philip Morris
. Federal Focus successfully blocked the federal government from gathering data related to deaths from secondhand smoke.
Federal Focus spawned dozens of 'non-profit' policy institutes and business-oriented think-tanks, among them were:
• Center for Epidemiological Studies (CES - after 1993)
• Institute for Regulatory Policy (IRP - before 1994)
• Health Policy Institute (HPI - before 1994);
• Center for the Study of Environmental Endocrine Effects (CSEEE - in 1994).
• Center for Regulatory Effectiveness
(CRE in 1994) which appears to be his current major organisation (although payments are still funneled through MBE).
Federal Focus was the vehicle by which the tobacco industry tried to change the rules for the science of epidemiology and the political rules behind risk-management. (See Good Epidemiological Practice (GEP) and the London Principles.)
Tozzi has been a member of the Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) since 1992 and currently serves as chairman of the International/Energy Workgroup. The EFAB provides advice to the Administrator and Program Offices of the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) on "how to pay" questions for environmental protection.
Role in Passage of the Data Quality Act
Tozzi was a major behind-the-scenes architect of the Data Quality Act
(DQA) which he helped to become law in December 2000 as a stealth rider to the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001. Since 2001 he has lobbied for regulated industries through the use of DQA. Among his accomplishments was the successful recertification of an herbicide, atrazine
, by the EPA, despite laboratory and field studies showing that the chemical is an endocrine disruptor
that causes frogs to become hermaphroditic.
with his main office in Dupont Circle
in Washington, DC. He is currently working on many projects, including nationwide medical marijuana legalization.
Center for Regulatory Effectiveness
The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness is a lobby group in the United States which focuses on federal agency compliance with "good government" laws which regulate the regulators...
, a watchdog group that specializes in data quality, and is a former regulatory official of the United States Office of Management and Budget
United States Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget is a Cabinet-level office, and is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States .The current OMB Director is Jacob Lew.-History:...
(OMB).
Jim Tozzi got his Ph.D. in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
. After some time playing jazz as a self-described “bottom-tier” musician in New Orleans, Tozzi began working in Washington in 1964 at the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
, Office of the Secretary of the Army, where he worked on budget and strategic response issues. Tozzi served as an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Work at OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)
Tozzi was instrumental in the passage of the Paperwork Reduction ActPaperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-511, 94 Stat. 2812 , codified in part at Subchapter I of Chapter 35 of Title 44 of the United States Code, through , is a United States federal law enacted in 1980 that gave authority over the collection of certain information to the Office of...
and the establishment of the OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is an office of the United States Government that Congress established in the 1980 Paperwork Reduction Act. OIRA is located within the Office of Management and Budget, which is an agency within the Executive Office of the President...
in 1980. Under his directorship, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs was the gatekeeper for virtually all proposed regulations dealing with public health and safety. It quickly became known among watchdog groups as a bureaucratic “black hole” where proposed regulations disappeared.
Tozzi was the Deputy Administrator of OMB in charge of the OIRA (and therefore of the regulatory agencies) when he left the organization in 1983 at age 45. He had also been the head of the Federal Ad Hoc Group on Toxic Torts, and had earned the nickname 'Stealth' for his ability to sneak in quietly and bomb agency attempts at regulation.
Between 1983 and 1986 he was employed as a 'consultant economist' by Beveridge & Diamond, the law firm of William Ruckleshaus, ex-administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and now contracted to the chemical industry. The firm's key lobbyist was J Marshall Coleman (ex State Attorney General) who was counsel to Dow Chemical and working in close relationship with the Chemical Manufacturing Association's American Industrial Health Council (AIHC), along with Edison Electric Institute, and the Society of the Plastic Industry.
The National Archives Interview on Centralized Regulatory Review
The National Archives extensively interviewed Jim Tozzi as part of an oral history project documenting the Nixon Administration. The Tozzi interview focused on the history of centralized regulatory review during this transformative period. The link to the complete videotaped interview may be found in the External Links section of this page.Lobbying Firms
In 1986 Thorne Auchter (ex head of the Occupational Safety and Health AdministrationOccupational Safety and Health Administration
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...
) and James Tozzi founded the lobbying company Multinational Business Services (MBS), and its not-for-profit Federal Focus, Inc, (a 501(c)(3) non-profit 'foundation') which was funded largely by Philip Morris
Philip Morris USA
Philip Morris USA is the United States tobacco division of Altria Group, Inc. Philip Morris USA brands include Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Benson and Hedges, Merit, Parliament, Alpine, Basic, Cambridge, Bucks, Dave's, Chesterfield, Collector's Choice, Commander, English Ovals, Lark, L&M, Players and...
. Federal Focus successfully blocked the federal government from gathering data related to deaths from secondhand smoke.
Federal Focus spawned dozens of 'non-profit' policy institutes and business-oriented think-tanks, among them were:
• Center for Epidemiological Studies (CES - after 1993)
• Institute for Regulatory Policy (IRP - before 1994)
• Health Policy Institute (HPI - before 1994);
• Center for the Study of Environmental Endocrine Effects (CSEEE - in 1994).
• Center for Regulatory Effectiveness
Center for Regulatory Effectiveness
The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness is a lobby group in the United States which focuses on federal agency compliance with "good government" laws which regulate the regulators...
(CRE in 1994) which appears to be his current major organisation (although payments are still funneled through MBE).
Federal Focus was the vehicle by which the tobacco industry tried to change the rules for the science of epidemiology and the political rules behind risk-management. (See Good Epidemiological Practice (GEP) and the London Principles.)
Tozzi has been a member of the Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) since 1992 and currently serves as chairman of the International/Energy Workgroup. The EFAB provides advice to the Administrator and Program Offices of the Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
(EPA) on "how to pay" questions for environmental protection.
Role in Passage of the Data Quality ActData Quality ActThe Data Quality Act passed through the United States Congress in Section 515 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001 . Because the Act was a two-sentence rider in a spending bill, it had no name given in the actual legislation...
Tozzi was a major behind-the-scenes architect of the Data Quality ActData Quality Act
The Data Quality Act passed through the United States Congress in Section 515 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001 . Because the Act was a two-sentence rider in a spending bill, it had no name given in the actual legislation...
(DQA) which he helped to become law in December 2000 as a stealth rider to the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001. Since 2001 he has lobbied for regulated industries through the use of DQA. Among his accomplishments was the successful recertification of an herbicide, atrazine
Atrazine
Atrazine, 2-chloro-4--6--s-triazine, an organic compound consisting of an s-triazine-ring is a widely used herbicide. Its use is controversial due to widespread contamination in drinking water and its associations with birth defects and menstrual problems when consumed by humans at concentrations...
, by the EPA, despite laboratory and field studies showing that the chemical is an endocrine disruptor
Endocrine disruptor
Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with endocrine in animals, including humans. These disruptions can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders...
that causes frogs to become hermaphroditic.
Personal life
Today Tozzi resides in Alexandria, VirginiaAlexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
with his main office in Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood, and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW...
in Washington, DC. He is currently working on many projects, including nationwide medical marijuana legalization.