E&E News - Caucuses to Examine Impact of Administration's Policies on West

News Article

By Jessica Estepa

Senate and House Republicans plan to scrutinize the Obama administration's policies in the West in a hearing this week.

The Senate Western Caucus and the Congressional Western Caucus will meet tomorrow to highlight a variety of policies, including the Clean Water Restoration Act, Utility MACT, Endangered Species Act regulations, Clean Air Act regulations and U.S. EPA permitting rules for farms and public lands.

"We are going to take a hard look at how the Obama administration's excessive environmental regulations have crushed job growth, energy development and property rights in the West," Senate caucus Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said in an email. "[The witnesses'] personal experiences will reveal how Washington's burdensome regulations make it harder for Western businesses and communities to grow and create new jobs."

The caucuses, which have met on occasion since they were both founded in 2009, will also highlight "Jobs Frontier," a report released by the caucuses in September 2011 that decries the administration's environmental policies. It also puts forward ideas supported by many Republicans, including opening up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas exploration.

Lawmakers will hear from Chantell and Michael Sackett, an Idaho couple embroiled in a court case against U.S. EPA. The Sacketts filed suit over due process after EPA ordered them to stop construction work on a parcel of land the couple had purchased. The Sacketts required a permit because the area was wetlands and were in violation of the Clean Water Act after the owners placed fill material into wetlands, EPA said (Greenwire, June 28, 2011).

At issue is EPA's issuing the order without allowing for an immediate hearing.

While the Obama administration stated that the Clean Water Act provisions do not violate the due process clause, Supreme Court justices were sympathetic to the Sacketts when they heard the case last month (Greenwire, Jan. 9).

The Sacketts' lawyer, Damien Schiff of the Pacific Legal Foundation, will also testify.

Other witnesses include Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R), who will discuss how public lands policies have affected his state, and Mayor Dennis Fife of Brigham City, Utah, who plans to highlight how EPA regulations may force a business to close and put several people out of work.

Schedule: The hearing is tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in 628 Dirksen.

Witnesses: Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R); Mike and Chantell Sackett; Damien Schiff, senior staff attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation; Dennis Fife, mayor of Brigham City, Utah; Mark Knight, National Cattlemen Beef Association and the Kansas Livestock Association; and Buster Johnson, chairman of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors in Arizona

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