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Aides to President George Bush hope to modify as many environmental regulations as possible before President-elect Barack Obama takes office on January 20th. The apparent goal is to make sure industry will have more leeway to extract natural resources or promote tourist activities within natural habitats. The rules would also speed up federal or state government plans to build infrastructure across the United States.
The rule changes span a range of federal government agencies. The Labour Department, for instance, plans to make it easier for power plants to be built near national parks and wilderness areas. The New York Times says another rule would reduce the role of federal wildlife scientists in deciding whether dams, highways and other projects pose a threat to endangered species.
"While the first 100 days of the Bush administration initiated perhaps the worst period of environmental deregulation in American history, the last 100 days of a Bush presidency could even be worse," states a report by the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
The Office of Surface Mining wants to make it easier for mining companies to bury natural streams and valleys under piles of coal mining waste and vast ponds of toxin-laden sludge. This would weaken the environmental standards for mountaintop removal mining, a form of coal extraction prevalent in West Virginia, says the Natural Resources Defense Council.
There also are plans to allow commercial oil shaleoperations on up to two million acres of public lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming despite the objections from two governors and members of Congress. Oil shale, a fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains organic chemical compounds from which technology can extract liquid hydrocarbons. Oil companies see this process as a natural progression from tar sands operations in Canada.
According to the Washington Post, the new regulations are meant to spell out precisely how federal employees and private citizens must comply with laws passed by Congress. But the language in those laws often has ambiguities -- reflecting lawmakers’ uncertainties or disagreements.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto insists the changes are not politically motivated or an attempt to rush them into place ahead of the next administration. Yet, according to The Guardian, the process started as early as May when White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten wrote a memo urging federal agencies to publish all final rules by November 1st, so they would be in effect when the next administration took office.
One reason for hurrying along the regulations is that those with an economic impact surpassing $100 million a year can only take legal effect 60 days after their publication in the Federal Register. Less significant regulations can still take effect in 30 days or less.
The Obama transition team says it will review the last-minute actions that are "not in the interests of the country." Some will not pass muster because they will not fulfill the deadline requirements. Others will be overturned because a 1996 law allows Congress to review every new federal regulation issued by government agencies.
However, the majority of regulations will stay in place says Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Many lawmakers will not want to touch hot-button issues for fear of political consequences from voters he tells the Jackson Hole News & Guide.
And getting rid of one rule means another must be drafted to fill the void. This process can take years because the administration has to defend its decision and lawyers representing competing interests will likely challenge the revised regulations in court.
Frenzied midnight regulations have become a traditional Washington fare as administration officials realize their impending loss of power. President Bill Clinton worked the same circuit as his transition team prepared to welcome a new Republican administration in 2001. What infuriates today’s environmentalists is that Clinton’s last-minute rules protected the environment whereas President Bush’s strategy destroys natural habitats. Their only hope is that President Obama, when his term expires, will not forget to cement a green legacy.
Courtesy of GLOBE-Net.
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