White House Fact Sheet on Republican Legislative Riders >U.S. Newswire >9 Jun 13:25 >White House Fact Sheet on Republican Legislative Riders >To: National Desk >Contact: White House Press Office, 202-456-2580 > >WASHINGTON, June 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released >today by the White House: > >-- >DEFENDING THE ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH AGAINST >THE LATEST WAVE OF REPUBLICAN RIDERS >June 9, 2000 >-- >In what has become an annual ritual, Republicans are again loading >up budget bills with legislative 'riders' that would surrender our >environment to special interests. These riders not only threaten >important environmental and public health protections -- they also >subvert the democratic process by trying to force through legislative >changes without the benefit of hearings or public scrutiny. Time and >again, President Clinton has stood firm and forced Congress to >withdraw dozens of the worst stealth riders. The President is calling >on Congress to drop this latest wave of anti-environmental riders, >including these: > >Undermining New National Monuments. A rider on the House Interior >Appropriations bill would prohibit any spending to develop management >plans, improve visitor services, enhance protections, or undertake >other activities at the new Grand Canyon-Parashant, Giant Sequoia, >Agua Fria and California Coastal National Monuments. The monuments >were created by the President earlier this year to strengthen >protection of these unique federal lands. > >Blocking Action on Global Warming. Riders attached to several >appropriations bills could seriously undermine U.S. efforts to combat >global warming. The riders seek to prohibit the executive branch, >including the State Department, from even trying to reach agreement >with other countries on actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. >Specifically, they seek to bar efforts to reach further agreement on >emissions trading and the Clean Development Mechanism -- two key >provisions of the Kyoto Protocol aimed at ensuring that emissions >reductions are achieved at the lowest possible cost. > >Refusing to Consider Increases in Auto Fuel Economy. A rider on >the House Transportation Appropriations bill would once again bar the >Department of Transportation from even considering an increase in >corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards. In the past, these >standards have resulted in a doubling of the fuel economy of the car >fleet, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, saving billions of >gallons of oil, and saving consumers billions of dollars. Continuing >the ban would contribute to rising energy consumption, increasing >both environmental and energy security risks. > >Crippling Water Quality Protections. A rider on the House VA/HUD >Appropriations bill would block the Environmental Protection Agency >from implementing a major rule aimed at strengthening clean water >protections nationwide. The proposed rule, set to go final later >this year, would update EPA's Total Maximum Daily Load requirements, >setting a new strategy for cleaning up nearly 20,000 water bodies >nationwide still too polluted for fishing and swimming. > >Blocking Drinking Water Standards. A second rider would block EPA >from adopting a new rule to protect the public from radon in drinking >water, as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996. > >Stalling Sensible Reform at the Army Corps. A rider on the FY 2000 >Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill in the Senate would >reverse important advances being made by the Army to ensure effective >civilian oversight and accountability of the Corps of Engineers. >This accountability is essential to ensure that Corps projects >affecting the nation's rivers, wetlands, coastlines and other water >resources are economically justified and environmentally acceptable. > >Endangering the North Carolina Coast. A second rider would >summarily transfer land on North Carolina's Oregon Inlet from the >Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the Pea Island National Wildlife >Refuge to the Army Corps. This transfer would short-circuit >environmental reviews in order to pave the way for a controversial >jetty project that could result in serious long-term environmental >harm. > >Reneging on Mining Reform. Another rider on the Senate >Agriculture/Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill would severely >weaken proposed Interior Department regulations aimed at reducing the >environmental impact of hardrock mining on public lands, including >large-scale cyanide leaching for gold. The rider would renege on an >agreement last year between Congress and the Administration to allow >the long overdue mining reforms to go forward provided they were >consistent with the findings of a recent National Research Council >report. > >Encouraging Overgrazing of Public Lands. Another rider on the >House Interior bill would automatically extend for up to 10 years any >grazing permit on Bureau of Land Management lands that expires in >fiscal year 2001 if the agency has not completed necessary >environmental reviews. BLM is on track to complete processing of all >permits up for renewal in 2001. But the rider would create an >incentive for permit holders to delay processing in hopes of winning >an automatic renewal. > >Undermining Pesticide Safety Standards. Another rider on the House >VA/HUD bill would cripple efforts to protect the public from >dangerous pesticides by barring the Environmental Protection Agency >from collecting fees from pesticide makers to support mandatory >safety reviews. The proposed EPA rule to assess the fees is required >under the Food Quality Protection Act, passed overwhelmingly by >Congress, which calls for systematic reviews of the potential health >risks posed by thousands of commonly used pesticides. > >Thwarting Cleanup of Hudson River PCBs. Another rider on the House >VA/HUD bill seeks to prevent EPA from adopting a long-awaited plan to >clean up PCBs discharged from General Electric manufacturing >facilities that have seriously contaminated New York's Hudson River. >Despite years of scientific study by EPA and independent scientists, >the rider would bar EPA from ordering the dredging of contaminated >sediments in the river pending completion of yet another study by the >National Academy of Sciences. > >Denying Communities Help on River Restoration. Riders on the House >Agriculture and Interior bills would restrict spending on voluntary >programs that assist communities in protecting and restoring their >rivers and in building sustainable riverfront economies. The riders >specifically target communities along the 14 rivers designated by the >President under the American Heritage Rivers initiative, which >provides assistance in identifying federal tools and resources that >communities can use to help implement their local restoration and >development plans. > >Blocking New Protections for Wildlife. Two riders in the House >Interior bill would bar establishment of new National Wildlife >Refuges on the Kankakee River in Illinois and Indiana, and in the >Yolo Bypass of the San Francisco Bay in California. These riders >would infringe on the Interior Department's ability under current law >to protect and preserve migratory birds and endangered species. The >Fish and Wildlife Service is coordinating on both of these proposals >with the Army Corps of Engineers and many state and local groups. > >-0- >/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ >06/09 13:25 > >Copyright 2000, U.S. Newswire >http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0609-124.html ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]