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Long Branch, NJ -- After learning that Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) plans to introduce legislation allowing the Bush administration to waive environmental laws in the three states affected by Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today criticized the legislation and urged Inhofe's counterpart in the House of Representatives to not consider any similar legislation.
Pallone, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sent a letter today to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) strongly urging
that "the Committee not consider any legislation establishing a blanket waiver of environmental laws and regulations as the federal government proceeds with its recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina."
According to press reports, Inhofe's legislation would create a 120-day period in which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Steven Johnson could either waive or modify environmental laws if the agency deemed it "necessary to respond in a timely and effective manner."
"Passing such a bill would set a terrible precedent of ignoring critical environmental protections, and would cede a tremendous amount of authority from Congress to the executive branch," Pallone wrote in his letter to Chairman Barton.
Pallone does not believe that environmental laws and regulations should be ignored at a time when the Gulf Coast faces possibly one of the worst environmental disasters in history.
"As we seek to help those who have been displaced, clean up the region, and rebuild destroyed towns and cities, we should not forget the need to protect the environment as well," Pallone continued in his letter. "Not only is it critical to restore the natural areas that were devastated, we also need to be sure that New Orleans and other cities are safe for habitation when people seek to return there. Many of our environmental laws were passed with the intention of protecting human health, and we should be able to guarantee to returning evacuees that they will be safe living in the area."
Pallone also believes the legislation is unnecessary since EPA Administrator Johnson told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee earlier this week that he did not believe environmental laws would prevent the agency from completing the necessary cleanup. |
