Bush Officials Moving FAST to Cut Environmental Protections

[G_j]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/260/story/55441.html
Thursday, November 6, 2008

By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers

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The administration is widely expected to try to get some of the rules into final form by the week before Thanksgiving because, in some cases, there's a 60-day delay before new regulations take effect. And once the rules are in place, undoing them generally would be a more time-consuming job for the next Congress and administration.
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GRAND CANYON
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The House of Representatives and Senate natural resources committees have the authority under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to order emergency withdrawals of federal land from future mining claims for three years, while Congress decides whether a permanent ban is needed. The House committee issued such a withdrawal order in June for about 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon, including the land the claims were filed on.

Now the Department of Interior has proposed scrapping its own rule that puts such orders from the congressional committees into practice.

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MOUNTAINTOP-REMOVAL COAL MINING

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The new rule would let companies explain why they can't avoid dumping into streams and how they intend to minimize harm. A September report on the proposal by the department's Office of Surface Mining said that environmental concerns would be taken into account "to the extent possible, using the best technology currently available."
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AIR POLLUTION

Two rule changes would apply to electric power plants and other stationary sources of air pollution.

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ENDANGERED SPECIES

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A proposed rule change would allow federal agencies to decide for themselves whether timber sales, new dams or other projects harm wildlife protected under the act. In many cases, they'd no longer have to consult the agencies that are charged with administering the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

OTHERS

Among the rule changes and plans that might become final are commercial oil-shale leasing, a new rule that would allow loaded, concealed weapons in some national parks, and oil and gas leasing on wild public lands in West Virginia and Utah.

[Kierkegaard]

1. WTF is wrong with these people?

"We're running out of time. We need to hurry and f*** up as many things as we can." ????

[tkayj]

2. Bush let's out one large, long, loud, stinky and slightly wet fart

as he leaves office. The toxic funk hovers over our cities, scorches the earth and pollutes our waterways for years to come. :nuke:

[av8rdave]

3. It's his final middle finger salute to all of us

Never forget. When Obama gives the obligatory thanks to the outgoing President, don't forget. When the press, in a year or so, starts its obligatory "Bush was really OK, we miss him, how's he doing now" fest, don't forget. When Bush dedicates his library, don't forget. When he appears at State functions, don't forget. And when he finds someone literate to write his memoirs, don't forget.

Never, ever forget.

[Submariner]

4. Obama meets Bush Monday at the WH

Maybe he can say something persuasive, like "Stop being such an asshole George", and stop f'ing up the environment for me you world class f'ing loser."

[G_j]

6. framed in respectful language, that would be nice

and absolutely appropriate

[Submariner]

8. framed in respectful language

You are entirely correct. I just loath Bush so much I can't say a kind word about him, nor could I be respectful in his presence, which is why I could never be a politician myself.

[G_j]

9. not a criticism

I understood exactly

:-)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. "Please stop being such an asshole."

:)

[bluedawg12]

5. KO & Maddow : Uranium minning with in three miles

of the Grand Canyon. Spilling poison into the Colo. River.

[AuntPatsy]

7. Another parting gift from the republicans? And they beleive themselves

able to recover? One of we the people's first goal should be to ensure the media begins to do it's job and not continue to carry water for the repubs in order to win 2012....enough of this...we can't forget what they did to Clinton and how the media was completely in on it all, the next four years are going to be more than crucial for all of us, there will be no down time, none..

[eowyn_of_rohan]

10. Does Congress not have any say in these moves?

(sigh) And would they stop him if they did?

[MJJP21]

12. Barack

can stop him and his actions in a couple of months if he deems it necessary. Calm down we won.

[G_j]

13. it won't be so easy

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103004749_pf.html

A Last Push To Deregulate
White House to Ease Many Rules

By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 31, 2008; A01

The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January.

The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms.

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Once such rules take effect, they typically can be undone only through a laborious new regulatory proceeding, including lengthy periods of public comment, drafting and mandated reanalysis.

"They want these rules to continue to have an impact long after they leave office," said Matthew Madia, a regulatory expert at OMB Watch, a nonprofit group critical of what it calls the Bush administration's penchant for deregulating in areas where industry wants more freedom. He called the coming deluge "a last-minute assault on the public . . . happening on multiple fronts."

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Bush's aides are acutely aware of the political risks of completing their regulatory work too late. On the afternoon of Bush's inauguration, Jan. 20, 2001, his chief of staff issued a government-wide memo that blocked the completion or implementation of regulations drafted in the waning days of the Clinton administration that had not yet taken legal effect.

"Through the end of the Clinton administration, we were working like crazy to get as many regulations out as possible," said Donald R. Arbuckle, who retired in 2006 after 25 years as an OMB official. "Then on Sunday, the day after the inauguration, OMB Director Mitch Daniels called me in and said, 'Let's pull back as many of these as we can.' "

Clinton's appointees wound up paying a heavy price for procrastination. Bush's team was able to withdraw 254 regulations that covered such matters as drug and airline safety, immigration and indoor air pollutants. After further review, many of the proposals were modified to reflect Republican policy ideals or scrapped altogether.
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