White House threatens to veto NEPA, coal bills

E&E News
By Manuel Quinones and Robin Bravender
March 6, 2014

The White House yesterday threatened to veto two House Republican bills meant to push back against the Obama administration's regulatory agenda.

One of the measures would fast-track federal environmental permitting decisions. The other would block a forthcoming rule to protect waterways from coal mining. The House is expected to pass both in the next few days.

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Tom Marino's H.R. 2641 -- titled the "Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development Act" -- would implement hard deadlines on National Environmental Policy Act reviews. Those reviews currently have no set deadlines and can stretch on for years.

The measure has bipartisan backing and is scheduled to get a floor vote tomorrow that it will likely pass easily. Business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have welcomed the effort to speed up the process.

A similar measure cleared the House last Congress, only to die in the Senate. But even if the Senate were to take it up and advance it this time around, the president has promised to be another obstacle.

A statement of administration policy yesterday said the bill "would undercut responsible decision-making and public involvement in the federal environmental review and permitting processes."

The bill, the statement said, would "increase litigation, regulatory delays, and potentially force agencies to approve a project if the review and analysis cannot be completed before the proposed arbitrary deadlines."

Marino's bill would mandate a 4½-year deadline to complete the review process, including an 18-month maximum for the environmental assessment and a 36-month maximum for an environmental impact statement. It would also reduce the statute of limitations to 180 days for challenging an agency's environmental review.

The House Rules Committee yesterday approved parameters for the floor debate, greenlighting votes on five amendments, including one from Republicans to extend the fast-track requirements for projects already under environmental review at the time of the bill's enactment.

Another GOP amendment would block agencies from taking into account estimates of the "social cost of carbon" -- or other estimates of the monetized damage associated with an increase in carbon dioxide emissions -- in environmental reviews.

White House blasts coal mining bill

The White House is also threatening to veto Ohio Republican Rep. Bill Johnson's H.R. 2824 because it would "misdirect limited resources and limit State discretion in regulating industries within their borders."

House Republicans and pro-coal lawmakers are selling the legislation as a cost-saving measure because it would block the Office of Surface Mining from promulgating its forthcoming stream protection rule.

Instead, the bill -- called "Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America" -- would task OSM and states with implementing the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule, unveiled during the administration of President George W. Bush.

"This legislation would save American jobs and taxpayer dollars by preventing this administration from imposing their mismanaged, job-destroying coal regulations, and setting in motion a responsible, thoughtful process for updating America's regulation of coal mining," House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) said during yesterday's Rules Committee hearing.

The White House's position statement, however, noted that a recent federal court ruling struck down the Stream Buffer Zone Rule. U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein for the District of Columbia faulted the Bush administration for not consulting with the Fish and Wildlife Service in developing the rule.

The administration says the bill "limits a State's ability to tailor stream safeguards or maintain currently adopted standards, creates needless regulatory and legal uncertainty, and requires States to waste significant taxpayer dollars adopting a rule that has been vacated by a Federal court."

The Rules Committee is allowing two Democratic amendments to reach the House floor, and it tweaked the bill's language to include a Hastings manager's update challenging the court ruling (E&E Daily, March 5).

Yesterday's Rules hearing focused on controversies surrounding OSM's current rulemaking and the environmental effects of mountaintop-removal coal mining.

While GOP lawmakers see the Bush-era rule as protecting both the environment and coal jobs, many Democrats and environmental groups welcomed the court ruling, saying they prefer the 1983 standard while OSM finishes its rulemaking.

An amendment by Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) would require states to implement the President Reagan-era rule, unless their own rules are stronger.

Another amendment, by Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.), would similarly allow states to enforce their own guidelines to protect waterways from coal mining as long as they meet certain guidelines.

Rules Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas), citing the coal industry's economic importance, particularly in Appalachia, challenged Cartwright on wanting tougher standards for mining.

Cartwright said, "I know the chairman does not mean to suggest that if somebody gets a job out of activity, it doesn't matter how badly their community gets poisoned. You don't mean to suggest that?"

Sessions responded, "That was never even part of the statement."

Last week, the National Wildlife Federation and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition sent lawmakers a letter urging them to oppose the Johnson bill, saying it would effectively overturn the ruling.

"For the sake of our children's future and the interests of our many members who love to hunt, fish, and recreate in these regions, we urge you to oppose this legislation," the groups said.

Because of its dislike for the Bush rule, OSM has only been enforcing it in limited jurisdictions like Tennessee that don't have their own coal mine regulatory programs under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

Amid the ongoing debate at the federal level, Tennessee lawmakers are discussing legislation to set up their own coal oversight program with OSM supervision. Environmental groups are opposing the move, accusing Tennessee of not having enough resources to conduct proper oversight.

It is unclear when the Johnson bill will reach the House floor, especially with lawmakers set to leave Capitol Hill for the weekend after today's votes.