Published July 31, 2011
President Obama and congressional leaders of both political parties tonight reached a last-minute agreement to raise America's debt ceiling and cut trillions of dollars in federal spending over the next decade.
The compromise agreement, which still has to be approved by Congress before the Tuesday default deadline, would leave Social Security intact while cutting both Medicare and defense spending, but could potentially damage the environment for generations.
Details of Final Agreement Still to Come
As of this writing, details of the agreement were still coming in, but earlier drafts included 39 significant reductions in environmental protections. Most of the last-minute changes appear to be focused on preserving Social Security benefits and agreeing to new cuts in Medicare and Pentagon spending.
Some of the most damaging environmental provisions in the Republican proposal that forms the bulk of the final plan include:
Exempting Oil Companies from Clean Air Act
Section 443 would amend the Clean Air Act in a variety of ways that would benefit oil companies by making it unnecessary for them to comply with many of the law's requirements.
First, it would "preclude EPA from requiring offshore sources to demonstrate compliance with health-based air quality standards anywhere but in a single onshore area." Second, it would reduce to "the length of time during which exploration platforms and drill ships are considered emission sources under the CAA, thereby limiting the time when emissions would be controlled."
Easing Restrictions on Mountaintop Removal Mining
Section 433 would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Army Corps of Engineers and the Office of Surface of Mining (OSM) from implementing or enforcing any government policy or procedure concerning mountaintop removal mining.
Section 432 would prevent the OSM from updating the Stream Buffer Rule, which was amended during the final days of the George W. Bush administration. Instead of stopping coal companies from dumping mining waste within 100 feet of streams, as the rule originally did, the amendment allows "a surface coal mine operator to legally place excess material excavated by the operation into streams."
Eliminates Wild Lands Protections
The Republican proposal effectively guts the Wild Lands order that U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced in December 2010, which allows the Bureau of Land Management to protect millions of acres of publicly owned lands that have identifiable wilderness characteristics. Section 124 "prohibits funding for the Wild Lands Secretarial Order announced by Interior Secretary Salazar last December," according to the Democrats' House Appropriations Committee website.
Opens Grand Canyon to Uranium Mining
Section 455 would stop the Interior Department from protecting the Grand Canyon from new uranium mining claims.
Blocks Greenhouse Gas Regulation of Stationary Sources
Section 431 severely limits the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources such as power plants and factories.
The Democrats' House Appropriations Committee website explains: "For a one-year period EPA is prohibited from proposing or promulgating regulations to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from stationary sources. The language also prevents civil tort or common law lawsuits during this one-year period. Furthermore the language states that any permit applied for during the one-year period shall not be federally enforceable."
Halts Endangered Species Listings
The Republican debt plan prohibits funding for new Endangered Species Act listings or critical habitat designations.
Stops Regulation of Coal Ash
Section 434 prohibits the EPA from regulating fossil fuel combustion waste (coal ash) under the Solid Waste Disposal Act.
Cuts Critical EPA Funding
Various sections of the proposal prohibit funding that would enable EPA to develop a new greenhouse gas standard for automobiles after model year 2016, regulate certain levels of airborne particulate matter under the Clean Air Act, implement Clean Air Act regulations on Portland cement manufacturing, develop additional financial assurance requirements for hard-rock mining operations, and develop or implement a variety of other environmental protections.
The tentative agreement still has to clear both the Democrat-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, so some of the anti-environmental provisions in the original GOP plan may be removed or revised before a final agreement receives full congressional approval.
For a full list of all 39 anti-environmental provisions in the original Republican debt plan, see the House Appropriations Committee-Democrats website.