"You've got many of the key regulatory decisions behind you," he said.

"The commission doesn't have to be involved in every single regulatory decision," he said.

Q. What do you see as the most difficult regulatory decisions to be made in coming months?

A series of regulatory and court decisions effectively killed the original plan last year.

Besides, he argued, function, rather than technology, should guide the regulatory decision.

These laboratory activities have a direct impact on regulatory decisions.

But people in Congress, which can overturn a regulatory decision, were skeptical.

He emphasized research programs to support sound regulatory decisions, address current issues and anticipate future ones.

It would also give industry new legal grounds for challenging regulatory decisions.

A. I always wonder who's paying them, and what their stake is in the regulatory decision.