President Clinton Thursday was expected to use his line item veto power on no more than a handful of provisions found in the Interior appropriations bill.
As of Thursday afternoon, Clinton had received a list of recommendations from the Office of Management and Budget, but had not finalized his choices.
The only item certain to be axed, according to administration sources, was a provision that would prevent the federal government from sharing in revenues gained from the sale of coal taken from publicly held mining properties in Montana--allowing the state to garner the entire public share. Normally, the money would be split between the state and the federal government, according to one administration source.
The White House was set to announce that the veto will net the federal government $10 million it otherwise would have been precluded from earning under the bill, the source said. However, the official added that the $10 million figure was based on an estimate of potential revenues from only one of two sites, and that the actual compensation for the federal government could be significantly higher.
The Northern Plains Resource Council, which supports the veto, estimates the entire federal take will be $484 million.
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