WASHINGTON - An increasingly concerned
Senator Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., denounced the Bush
Administration’s decision Wednesday to suspend a Clinton-era
rule to protect public lands from the toxic waste of mining
companies.
The move, combined with a series of other recent actions,
reflects the administration’s clear insensitivity to a range of
health, safety and environmental protections, carefully developed
over months and years, after public hearings and widespread
comment.
Disturbed by the rapid and closed-door decisions to delay,
eliminate, and possibly eliminate safety rules, Lieberman
indicated his intent to investigate the methods by which the
administration’s decisions are being made.
"I am deeply troubled by these efforts to roll back
valuable regulations," Lieberman said. "The
administration’s effort to undo years of diligent work that
serves our citizens and this beautiful land deserves closer
scrutiny."
The new mining regulation, the first change in 20 years, was
published Jan. 20, 2001, after a four-year decision-making
process, extensive public comment, open hearings, and consultation
with local officials. It was developed in response to pollution
resulting from mining activity on public lands.
"This delay is yet another effort by the Bush
Administration to turn back the clock on key protections for the
environment and for the essential health and safety of the
American citizen," Lieberman said. "It seems to me the
administration is leading us in the direction of another ‘Silent
Spring.’"
The administration has already delayed a host of environment
and health and safety safeguards. The list includes regulations
that would have:
protected
wilderness and wildlife areas from degradation
The administration has said these delays are to allow time to
decide whether to weaken or reverse the rules. Therefore, these
rules are at risk of the kind of reversals we have seen recently
in the case of controls over carbon dioxide (the leading
greenhouse gas), the arsenic rule, and requirements that
contractors abide by environmental, worker safety and other laws.
Lieberman said he plans to query relevant federal agencies
about the process by which they are reviewing and turning back
these regulations.
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