Bush Administration Pushes Their Final Environment and Energy Policies

There are still 32 days remaining in President Bush's term. But, for administration officials seeking to make changes in federal rules, time is almost up.

New rules can be negated within the first 30 days after they're enacted. After that, it gets a lot harder: many rules can only be altered through Congressional action, or the complicated federal rulemaking process.

Now, with the 30-day deadline closing in, a number of major regulations relating to energy and the environment have already been locked in. Others have already been abandoned -- including a proposal for regulating fisheries that was dropped today.

But a few are still in play.

For those keeping score at home, washingtonpost.com's Green Page offers this handy Last-Minute Regulation Tracker.

DONE DEALS

1.) Concealed firearms now allowed in national parks.

A new Interior Department rule allows an individual to carry a loaded weapon in a park or wildlife refuge -- but only if the person has a permit for a concealed weapon, and if the state where the park or refuge is located also allows loaded firearms in parks. The rule overturns a Reagan administration-era regulation that has restricted loaded guns in parks and wildlife refuges. The previous regulations required that firearms be unloaded and placed somewhere that is not easily accessible, such as in a car trunk.

Status: Certain. The rule will become final in early January.

2.) New rules for mountaintop-mining waste.

A new rule from the Office of Surface Mining could ease the restrictions on what mining companies can do with the tons of dirt and rock they blast off Appalachian mountaintops to reach coal seams beneath. In many cases, this waste is dumped into nearby ravines, creating "valley fills" that be dozens of feet high. Previously, rules had barred most dumping within 100 yards of a stream, if the material would damage the stream's water quality.

The new rule would allow waste to be dumped in streams -- if a company has no alternative, and if it tries to preserve the stream's health "to the extent practicable." The government says it's clarifying an older rule, and making it more strict in some cases. Environmental groups say the rule could allow fills that will cause considerable harm to stream life.

Status: It made the cutoff. The rule will become final on Jan. 12.

3.) Looser rules for air pollution from factory farms.

A new regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency exempts factory farms from a requirement to report hazardous air pollution -- including ammonia given off by animal waste -- to the federal government. The rule alters a regulation from 28 years ago, but does not exempt the farms from local or state reporting requirements.

Status: A lock. The final rule was issued Dec. 12.

4.) Permission to burn toxic wastes as fuel

A new rule from the EPA allows companies that create hazardous chemical wastes in industrial processes to burn them as fuel in their own incinerators, instead of paying highly regulated incineration firms to destroy them.

The EPA said that 34 affected companies will be subject to high penalties if, when they burn the waste, toxic compounds are not fully destroyed. An agency spokeswoman said it would affect less than 1 percent of all hazardous wastes.

Status: Done. The final rule was issued Dec. 12.

5.) Loosened protections for endangered and threatened species.

A new rule from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would allow other government agencies to decide in some cases whether a project would harm an imperiled species, without having to submit to an independent scientific review.

The Interior Department described this as a "clarification," which could streamline the application process for dams, roads and other public projects. The agency received nearly 235,000 comments, at least 208,000 of which were form letters decrying the rule.

Status: Finalized. The final rule was published Dec. 11.

6.) Easing restrictions on oil-shale drilling

The federal Bureau of Land Management has proposed allowing companies to drill for "oil shale," which is oil contained in rock deposits, across the West. The bureau argued that the work would increase domestic oil production.

But the process of extracting and processing the shale is often environmentally harmful. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) called the decision "not just premature, it's hasty and I would even argue reckless."

Status: The decision was made final on Nov. 17, a bureau spokesman said. It faces a 60-day deadline, so it will be final before the Inauguration.

STILL UNRESOLVED

1.) New standards for medical-waste incinerators

A new rule from the EPA proposes to cut the emissions of mercury, dioxins, and other pollutants from incinerators of medical waste. These incinerators, which burn biological waste, needles, plastic gloves and batteries, produce just a fraction of the country's air pollution, but can affect local air quality.

Environmental groups support the proposed regulations, which are significantly stricter than the last set of standards, issued in 1997.

Status: The rule was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 1, but in this case, 75 days must elapse before it becomes final.

2.) No standards for rocket-fuel chemical in drinking water.

The EPA plans not to set a federal standard for the amount of perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket fuel, in drinking water. The chemical has been linked in scientific studies to thyroid problems in pregnant women, newborns and infants.

The EPA said its computer models showed that most Americans are not exposed to dangerous levels in their tap water now. But a science advisory board for the agency urged EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson to extend the public-comment period, and consider the issue further.

Status: Uncertain. The EPA could change its mind on the subject before Obama takes over.

3.) Removing gray wolf populations from the threatened list.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has sought to remove the Rocky Mountain and Great Lakes populations of gray wolves from the list of threatened species. The agency said that both populations have exceeded their targets.

Last year, a judge rejected an effort to de-list the two wolf populations. But the service is now re-considering the idea, asking again for public comments.

Status: The service could make a final decision on the wolves' status this month.

ALREADY DEAD

1.) Changes in fisheries regulation

The National Marine Fisheries Service had proposed changes in the regulation of commercial fisheries, which would have eliminated environmental reviews when permitting certain unusual methods of fishing.

Status: Withdrawn. The fisheries service dropped it today, saying it was obvious the rule would not be finished before Inauguration Day.

2.) Changing the limits on air pollution near national parks.

This rule, proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, would have changed the rules for new plants being built nearby. Currently, computer models project how bad pollution would be over three-hour and 24-hour periods, to guard against short-term spikes in pollution from nearby smokestacks.

The EPA wanted to alter this rule, to focus instead on the average of air pollution over an entire year.

Clean-air advocates had protested that this might allow parks such as Virginia's Shenandoah -- where the famous mountaintop views are already obscured by smog and haze -- to become even dirtier on certain days.

Status: Defunct. The EPA abandoned its push for this rule Dec. 10, saying there was not enough time to finalize it.

3.) Standards for installing "scrubber" devices at power plants.

This rule dealt with the EPA's New Source Review process, which dictates when existing power plants must implement additional pollution-control measures. In some cases, this requirement is triggered when a plant produces more pollution than it had previously.

The question is: How should this pollution be measured? Now, what matters is an annual pollution total. The EPA had sought to substitute a different test, using the amount of pollution produced in a single hour."

Industry advocates said the rule provided a better measure of a plant's peak output. But environmentalists said the rule would have allowed plants to operate for longer hours and produce more overall pollution.

Status: Dead. This rule was also abandoned by the EPA on Dec. 10.