WASHINGTON – Senator Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., announced Thursday he was launching an investigation into the Bush Administration?s accelerated campaign to try to rescind or eliminate a range of public health and safety, and environmental protections.
“This misguided campaign by the new administration defies common sense and threatens to befoul the air we breathe, the water we drink and the lands we cherish,” Lieberman said. “The peace of mind of our citizens and the exquisite natural beauty of our land deserve better.”
These regulations were not formulated overnight or by irresponsible parties, Lieberman said. Months, sometimes years, of labor went into designing them. Public hearings were held around the nation. Extensive comment was solicited. And now, Lieberman added, “seemingly in the blink of an eye, one protection after another is being dismantled.”
Many of these threatened rules have received widespread public attention. The administration has targeted scores of others, including rules that support the public?s right to know about toxic lead contamination in their communities, that protect mine workers against toxic underground air pollution, that make our highways and roads safer, and that protect wilderness and wildlife areas from degradation.
Lieberman said he was launching an investigation “into the method behind this madness, that is, the decision-making process leading to these damaging actions. Who have they solicited comment from? Why aren?t they conducting public hearings? What?s the evidence they?ve amassed against the regulations?”
The Senator released three letters he has written to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department and the Agriculture Department, asking for a full accounting of their decisions on the arsenic, mining, and roadless rules.
“The arduous work that went into these rules in the first place – and the innocent people they are designed to protect – should not be disregarded so carelessly,” Lieberman said. “President Bush promised during the campaign to set high environmental standards and build conservation partnerships between federal, state and local governments. Instead, his administration is razing high standards that have already been set and partnering with no one but those who would degrade the environment. ?If you own the land,? Bush said in one of his debates with Vice President Gore last year, ?every day is Earth Day.? Was that just another hollow campaign slogan?”
Letter to EPA Administrator Whitman
The Honorable Christie Whitman
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20460
Dear Administrator Whitman:
In a February 4, 2001 letter to OMB Director Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., I expressed my concern that the Administration?s government-wide regulatory review plan should not be used to turn back the clock on important health, safety, and environmental protections put in place after years of research, public comment, and agency consideration. My concern has grown considerably as the Administration has taken steps to reverse or weaken a number of regulations aimed at guarding the environment and the health and safety of the American people.
As part of this regulatory review plan, you announced on March 20, 2001 that the effective date of a standard reducing the amount of arsenic allowed in our drinking water would be delayed for 60 days and that you have decided to propose the entire elimination of this rule. As you know, this regulation updates a standard unchanged for nearly 60 years, which was developed after 25 years of public debate and comment about the dangers of arsenic, one of the most toxic chemicals in the world.
As Ranking Member of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, which is responsible for overseeing the proper conduct of regulatory decision making, I am very troubled by this decision to undo so many years of work and by the quick and closed-door decision-making process that led to it. So that Congress can appropriately review this process and the decisions resulting from it, I would appreciate your sending me the following materials regarding the arsenic regulation:
All documents reflecting or relating to any communications or correspondence between anyone in your agency and any person or entity outside your agency (including both any individual working for another agency or branch of government and any individual not associated with the government) on or after January 20, 2001, or between anyone in your agency and anyone on or representing the Bush Administration transition team after November 7, 2000, regarding the subject matter of the regulation or the possibility of delaying, suspending, rescinding, or otherwise modifying it.
A description of any meetings between anyone in your agency and anyone outside of your agency on or after January 20, 2001, or between anyone in your agency and anyone on or representing the Bush Administration transition team after November 7, 2000, regarding the subject matter of the regulation or the possibility of delaying, suspending, rescinding, or otherwise modifying it.
Copies of all documents prepared by or reviewed by anyone within your agency on or after January 20, 2001, in connection with your agency?s review of the regulation or the possibility of delaying, suspending, rescinding, or otherwise modifying it.
A description of the process by which you and others in your agency have reviewed and intend to review the regulation, including a description of the involvement of other agencies or departments, OMB, and the White House.
Please provide me with these documents by April 6, 2001. My staff will contact your office to discuss the schedule for your providing these materials.
Thank you very much for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Joseph I . Lieberman
Ranking Member
Letter to Interior Secretary Norton
The Honorable Gale A. Norton
Secretary of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior 1849 C. Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240
Dear Secretary Norton:
In a February 4, 2001 letter to OMB Director Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., I expressed my concern that the Administration?s government-wide regulatory review plan should not be used to turn back the clock on important health, safety, and environmental protections put in place after years of research, public comment, and agency consideration. My concern has grown considerably as the Administration has taken steps to reverse or weaken a number of regulations aimed at guarding the environment and the health and safety of the American people.
As part of this regulatory review plan, you announced that you will propose to completely eliminate the new so-called “3809 regulations,” which are aimed at, among other things, holding mining companies responsible for clean-up of their own toxic waste left on public lands. As you know, this rule was the result of a four-year decision-making process with extensive public comment, open hearings, and consultation with local officials.
As Ranking Member of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, which is responsible for overseeing the proper conduct of regulatory decision making, I am very troubled by this decision to undo so many years of work and by the quick and closed-door decision-making process that led to it. So that Congress can appropriately review this process and the decisions resulting from it, I would appreciate your sending me the following materials regarding the 3809 mining regulations:
All documents reflecting or relating to any communications or correspondence between anyone in your department and any person or entity outside your department (including both any individual working for another agency or branch of government and any individual not associated with the government) on or after January 20, 2001, or between anyone in your department and anyone on or representing the Bush Administration transition team after November 7, 2000, regarding the subject matter of the regulation or the possibility of delaying, suspending, rescinding, or otherwise modifying it.
A description of any meetings between anyone in your department and anyone outside of your department on or after January 20, 2001, or between anyone in your department and anyone on or representing the Bush Administration transition team after November 7, 2000, regarding the subject matter of the regulation or the possibility of delaying, suspending, rescinding, or otherwise modifying it.
Copies of all documents prepared by or reviewed by anyone within your department on or after January 20, 2001, in connection with your department?s review of the regulation or the possibility of delaying, suspending, rescinding, or otherwise modifying it.
A description of the process by which you and others in your department have reviewed and intend to review the regulation, including a description of the involvement of other agencies or departments, OMB, and the White House.
Please provide me with these documents by April 6, 2001. My staff will contact your office to discuss the schedule for your providing these materials.
Thank you very much for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Joseph I . Lieberman
Ranking Member
Letter to Agriculture Secretary Veneman
The Honorable Ann M. Veneman
Secretary of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
14th and Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250
Dear Secretary Veneman:
In a February 4, 2001 letter to OMB Director Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., I expressed my concern that the Administration?s government-wide regulatory review plan should not be used to turn back the clock on important health, safety, and environmental protections put in place after years of research, public comment, and agency consideration. My concern has grown considerably as the Administration has taken steps to reverse or weaken a number of regulations aimed at guarding the environment and the health and safety of the American people.
As part of this regulatory review plan, you have already delayed the effective date of a rule safeguarding roadless areas of the national forests against environmental degradation, and it has been reported that your department intends to propose a further suspension of the regulation while you study whether to weaken or eliminate the new environmental safeguards. As you know, this regulation was the result of two years of agency review and widespread involvement of the public, including hundreds of public meetings and solicitation and consideration by the agency of thousands of public comments.
As Ranking Member of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, which is responsible for overseeing the proper conduct of regulatory decision making, I am very troubled by this decision to undo so many years of work and by the quick and closed-door decision-making process that led to it. So that Congress can appropriately review this process and the decisions resulting from it, I would appreciate your sending me the following materials regarding the roadless-areas regulation:
All documents reflecting or relating to any communications or correspondence between anyone in your department and any person or entity outside your department (including both any individual working for another agency or branch of government and any individual not associated with the government) on or after January 20, 2001, or between anyone in your department and anyone on or representing the Bush Administration transition team after November 7, 2000, regarding the subject matter of the regulation or the possibility of delaying, suspending, rescinding, or otherwise modifying it.
A description of any meetings between anyone in your department and anyone outside of your department on or after January 20, 2001, or between anyone in your department and anyone on or representing the Bush Administration transition team after November 7, 2000, regarding the subject matter of the regulation or the possibility of delaying, suspending, rescinding, or otherwise modifying it.
Copies of all documents prepared by or reviewed by anyone within your department on or after January 20, 2001, in connection with your department?s review of the regulation or the possibility of delaying, suspending, rescinding, or otherwise modifying it.
A description of the process by which you and others in your department have reviewed and intend to review the regulation, including a description of the involvement of other agencies or departments, OMB, and the White House.
Please provide me with these documents by April 6, 2001. My staff will contact your office to discuss the schedule for your providing these materials.
Thank you very much for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Joseph I . Lieberman
Ranking Member