With the presidential election looming and Biden performing poorly in polls, his allies and administration officials are becoming increasingly worried about the status of many unfinished environmental regulations. How fast these rules are implemented could determine whether they survive a potential second Trump presidency.
The crucial law
The 1996 Congressional Review Act grants Congress 60 days to overturn any agency rule. The timeline starts when a specific rule is sent to the Capitol, and only Congressional session days count toward the 60-day countdown.
Previous precedent
Since the law passed, it had only been used once, to redact a single rule. However, Trump shocked many when he and his Republican allies controlling Congress used it to revoke over a dozen rules finalized in the final months of Obama’s presidency.
Deadline looming
With that precedent set, officials in Biden’s Administration are pushing for rules to be finalized as early as possible. “The sooner, the better,” explained Lisa Frank, the head of Environment America’s Washington legislative office. “We’ve been encouraging the Biden administration to get many of these done by Earth Day,” which falls on April 22.
Uncertain deadline
The exact deadline before which regulations must be finalized to be protected from the Congressional Review Act is unclear, because it’s hard to predict how long each rule will take to reach Congress. There are review processes, formalities like getting them printed in the Federal Register, and the looming threat of a government shutdown, all of which could cause fatal delays to crucial regulations.
Key aim
According to Matthew Davis, a director at the League of Conservation Voters, the Biden Administration is “very focused” on finalizing the rules early to “insulate them from a reach-back” should Trump re-take the White House.
GOP opposition
Republicans in Congress have signaled opposition to several of the rules Biden’s allies are pushing to finalize. These include limits on the greenhouse emissions of power plants and vehicles.
Hard at work
The Environmental Protection Agency is “working hard to finalize several important rules this spring to ensure public health and environmental protection for all Americans,” an EPA spokesperson stated. As well as emissions regulations, these rules would also designate certain forever-chemicals as hazardous substances, force polluters to clean up toxic coal ash at disposal sites, and require lead drinking water pipes to be replaced sooner.
Defending personnel
Another rule being pushed by the Biden Administration is a regulation protecting civil service protections. One of Trump’s final acts as president was an executive order attempting to turn many government personnel into at-will employees who could be fired far more easily.
Government takeover
Biden quickly revoked that order, but experts are worried that Trump will attempt some sort of political takeover of the civil service, which is supposed to be non-partisan and at least somewhat insulated from political machinations.
Land protections
Another major rule being worked on would make conservation of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management equal to other priorities like energy development, livestock grazing, and recreation.
Being worked on
Many of these rules are expected to be published in March and April, but some likely won’t be finalized until October. For Biden Administration officials and allies, however, the sooner, the better — as it means a lower likelihood that delays will push any specific rule into the danger zone.
Working hard
“I am acutely aware of the calendar, and I’m checking on status regularly,” Paul Billings of the American Lung Association said. “In a month, my hair may be on fire.”
Excitement
Lisa Frank of Environment America said she was feeling “anxious excitement” over all the rules being worked on. “The Biden administration is poised to deliver some of the biggest gains on clean air, clean water, and safeguarding nature that we’ve seen in years,” she said.
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