CONTACTS:
Dave Bard – Pew Environment Group, 202.486.4426
Cat Lazaroff – Defenders of Wildlife, 202.772.3270
Andrea Keller Helsel – National Parks Conservation Association, 202.454.3332
Raviya Ismail – Earthjustice, 202.667.4500

Groups to Express Concern Regarding Office of Management and Budget Procedural Determination That Allows More Time for Environmental Rollbacks

Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act Impacted

December 9, 2008

Update: Download an MP3 of this press call

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, December 10 at 11:30 am EST, a coalition of national environmental groups hosted a press call urging OMB to refrain from finalizing any more rules affecting major environmental protections under a procedural tactic that allows more time for controversial rollbacks to be made permanent.

Recently, major changes to several of America’s bedrock environmental laws and regulations were classified by OMB as not “economically significant.” This classification gave federal agencies 30 more days to finalize far-reaching environmental rules prior to a December 19, 2008 deadline, after which the Obama administration’s options will become significantly limited.

Some of the fundamental environmental laws and regulations that these non-“economically significant” rules would negatively impact include:

• The Endangered Species Act – a landmark piece of environmental protection legislation that has saved scores of endangered species from extinction
• The National Environmental Policy Act – the nation’s pre-eminent environmental protection law that requires the Federal government to evaluate the environmental impacts of its actions publicly before proceeding
• The Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Review – a program that protects our national parks with common-sense pollution limits from nearby power plants
• The Environmental Protection Agency – regulations that provide federal, state and local agencies and the public with information about air releases of hazardous substances at factory farms

Participants

• Martin Hayden – Vice President, Policy and Legislation, Earthjustice (moderator)
• Lee Crockett – Director, Federal Fisheries Policy, Pew Environment Group
• Bob Irvin – Senior Vice President for Conservation Programs, Defenders of Wildlife
• Ed Hopkins - Director, Environmental Quality Program, Sierra Club
• Mark Wenzler – Director, Clean Air and Climate Programs, National Parks Conservation Association

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Find out more:

• Press Release: Groups Urge Office of Management and Budget to Stop Last Minute Rush to Finalize Environmental Rules