Bush administration is poised to publish new environment rules

With the Bush administration planning to publish a slew of new energy and environmental regulations by year's end, congressional Democrats already are looking ahead to how the Obama administration might undo them.

On Thursday, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming is planning a hearing to investigate proposed late-term regulatory rule changes that touch on a range of issues from fuel economy standards to endangered species.

A Democratic staff report outlines a number of areas the committee is likely to explore. The most contentious proposed agency actions include:

• The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing three new rules governing the source review program that was designed to force power plants to upgrade pollution controls when they improve their facilities. The proposed rules would alter the way emissions are measured, with the likely result that fewer power plants would be required to adopt stronger pollution controls.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing regulations to implement the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. Under the law, fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks are to be increased by the "maximum feasible amount" each year to reach 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Defining "maximum feasible" requires measuring the cost-effectiveness of higher standards. But NHTSA has adopted unrealistically low estimates of gasoline prices (lower than those recommended by the Energy Department), which would effectively delay the imposition of higher fuel-economy standards on automakers in the near term.
• The Interior Department is planning to issue a number of regulatory changes aimed at excluding climate change as a consideration in implementing the 1973 Endangered Species Act. The department also plans to issue new regulations on coal mining that would exempt some operations from maintaining a 100-foot buffer zone around streams to protect them from environmental damage.

Among those scheduled to testify at the hearing is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental attorney and activist and chairman of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an advocacy group that aims to protect waterways from ecological harm. Kennedy, an Obama supporter reportedly being considered for the position of EPA administrator, might offer some insight into the agency's priorities in the new administration.

A report issued this fall by the alliance describes the Bush administration as "the most environmentally damaging presidency in American history" and catalogs dozens of rollbacks in environmental regulations that have weakened federal agency protection of U.S. rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands.

The top two priorities the group identified are restoring environmental protections and bolstering enforcement.