reconciliation

It’s back.

Land sale provisions are back in reconciliation. And they are far worse than before.

Last time I posted on this topic, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives was considering a provision to sell or dispose of public lands in Utah and Nevada, arguably on the grounds of facilitating needed housing production around growing metropolitan areas.  That provision was criticized across the political spectrum, received opposition from a …

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Pay to Play

The reconciliation bill has a new approach to try and change substantive law

I posted earlier about a provision in the House reconciliation bill that attempts to effectively repeal NEPA by allowing sponsors of projects to pay a fee to avoid any judicial review of NEPA documents.  That provision is not unique, and indeed it looks like House Republicans are trying to develop a new tool to use …

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Reconciliation and public lands

Most changes would be to the leasing process for oil and gas development and reflect a partisan response to ping-pong governance

As the Senate takes up the House’s version of the reconciliation bill, I wanted to briefly summarize the main provisions that relate to public lands – in part so readers can be aware of the state of play as to what might (or might not) come to pass in the Senate.  The bill as passed …

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Public Lands Watch: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Senate budget resolution being considered this week could open refuge to oil drilling

One of the longest lasting fights over the federal public lands has been whether to open up portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas development. The Refuge is one of the most important and largest protected areas in North America – it is unusual in that it protects the …

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200 Days and Counting: Budget

What are the implications of changes to the federal budget for environmental law?

The Trump Administration has proposed draconian cuts to a range of environmental and science agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior, NASA’s climate science work, and NOAA’s science and regulatory programs.  Here we’ll talk about the potential implications of dramatic budget cuts, and then the likelihood they will occur, at least for …

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