Bush officials moving fast to
cut environmental protections
Grand Canyon, mountain-top removal to suffer new exploitation
By Renee Schoof
McClatchy Newspapers, November 7, 2008
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See Article III.2
Violating the Public Trust
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Not done making a
mess of the world yet. In the next few weeks,
the Bush administration is expected to relax
environmental-protection rules on power plants
near national parks, uranium mining near the
Grand Canyon and more mountaintop-removal coal
mining in Appalachia.
Source: Reuters, Larry
Downing |
WASHINGTON - In the next few weeks, the Bush administration
is expected to relax environmental-protection rules
on power plants near national parks, uranium mining
near the Grand Canyon and more mountaintop-removal
coal mining in Appalachia.
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.
The regulations already have had periods of public
comment, and no further comments are being taken.
The administration has proposed the rules and final
approval is considered likely.
It's common for administrations to issue a spate
of regulations just before leaving office. The Bush
administration's changes are in keeping with President
Bush's overall support of deregulation.
Here's a look at some changes that are likely to
go into effect before the inauguration.
GRAND CANYON
Higher prices for uranium, driven by expanded interest
in nuclear power, have resulted in thousands of mining
claims being filed on land within three miles of the
Grand Canyon.
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.
The Interior Department could decide to use its own
power to halt new claims, but it doesn't see any emergency
that would prompt such action, department spokesman
Chris Paolino said. The department would require environmental
impact studies before it approved any mining on the
claims, he added.
One of the main hazards from uranium mining is seepage
from tailings piles that poisons water. A report for
the Arizona Department of Game and Fish said people
would be at risk if they ingested radium-226, arsenic
and other hazardous substances from water and tainted
fish.
Environmental groups say the government must consider
the possible danger of uranium leaching into the Colorado
River, a source of drinking water for Phoenix, Las
Vegas and Los Angeles. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano
in March urged Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne
to halt new claims and order a study of uranium mining
near the canyon.
MOUNTAINTOP-REMOVAL COAL MINING
Another proposed rule change from the Department
of Interior would change rules on dumping the earth
removed for mining into nearby streams.
The current rule, dating from the Reagan administration,
says that no surface mining may occur within 100 feet
of a stream unless there'd be no harm to water quality
or quantity. The rule change essentially would eliminate
the buffer by allowing the government to grant waivers
so that mining companies can dump the rubble from
mountaintops into valleys, burying streams.
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."
The government and mining companies have been ignoring
the buffer since the 1990s, said Joan Mulhern, an
attorney with Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm for
environmental protection.
Before the rule can be changed, however, the Department
of Interior must get written approval from Environmental
Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson.
"In order to concur, the EPA would have to find
that the activities authorized by the rule would not
violate water-quality standards, and all the evidence
is to the contrary," Mulhern said.
AIR POLLUTION
Two rule changes would apply to electric power plants
and other stationary sources of air pollution.
The first mainly concerns older power plants. Under
the Clean Air Act, plants that are updated must install
pollution-control technology if they'll produce more
emissions. The rule change would allow plants to measure
emissions on an hourly basis, rather than their total
yearly output. This way, plants could run for more
hours and increase overall emissions without exceeding
the threshold that would require additional pollution
controls.
The other change would make it easier for companies
to build polluting facilities near national parks
and wilderness areas. It also would change the way
that companies must measure the impact of their pollution.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
The Endangered Species Act prohibits any federal
actions that would jeopardize the existence of a listed
species or "adversely modify" critical habitats.
The 1973 law has helped save species such as the bald
eagle from extinction.
Bush administration officials have argued that the
act can't be used to protect animals and habitats
from climate change by regulating specific sources
of greenhouse gas emissions.
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.
