As millions of gallons of oil continue to pour into the Gulf of Mexico, the Washington Post and New York Times reported that the Minerals Management Service (MMS) – the agency within the U.S. Department of Interior that oversees offshore oil and gas leasing and development – mostly ignored some of the country’s most important environmental laws when it gave the green light to Deepwater Horizon and other offshore drilling.
The Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) when they take or approve actions that may adversely affect species listed as threatened or endangered. Though MMS has acknowledged that oil and gas drilling is likely to adversely affect protected sea turtles, sperm whales, and Alabama sturgeon, the Post and Times reported that the agency failed to consult with NMFS prior to issuing permission for the Deepwater Horizon drilling. The papers also reported that MMS pressured agency biologists to reverse findings that drilling might harm marine mammals and endangered species, and that the agency has issued three huge lease sales and hundreds of approvals for offshore drilling since January 2010 without complying with the ESA.
MMS has also virtually ignored its responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires agencies to assess the environmental consequences of their actions prior to going forward. Incredibly, MMS approved the Deepwater Horizon drilling based on a “Categorical Exclusion” under NEPA, a designation given to projects that “do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment” (40 CFR § 1508.4) and thus require no Environmental Impact Statement.
Full textA small group of Senate Republicans – most from conservative western states – have introduced a bill (available via E&E, subs. required) that would require the federal government to annually disclose a list of attorney fee awards it has given to allow public interest plaintiffs to recover expenses when they have successfully challenged decisions of federal agencies. Introduction of the bills was prodded by allegations from Karen Budd-Falen, a Wyoming-based attorney whose firm represents a variety of resource user groups, that environmental organizations are receiving “billions” of dollars from the federal government through attorney fee awards authorized under fee-shifting provisions of federal law, as well as through the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA).
EAJA and similar fee-shifting statutes play a key role in allowing public interest organizations to challenge decisions by the federal government in court. Fee awards go to attorneys who successfully litigate a case against a federal agency, allowing lawyers to represent organizations that otherwise could not afford counsel. Some organizations also have in-house legal departments that can receive such awards, which generally cannot be shared with the organization’s non-legal staff.
Environmental groups were quick to point out that Budd-Falen’s “billions” claim was fanciful, but noted that the proposed disclosures could lead to efforts to intimidate plaintiff organizations and their counsel. Congress enacted EAJA and other fee-shifting provisions of federal law to enable and encourage interested groups and individuals to vindicate their rights when the federal government acts unlawfully. Lawsuits supported through such attorney fee awards help prevent arbitrary government actions, enforce civil rights and protect consumers, public health and safety, and the environment. Non-profits that support resource users are also eligible for awards when they succeed in court.
Full textCenter for Progressive Reform Member Scholar Dan Rohlf blogs on Senator James Inhofe's battle for scientific integrity: The Associated Press reported last week that the Commerce Department's inspector general is looking into who leaked a draft of the Bush Administration's plans to prevent federal agencies from considering the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on species protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, expressing concern over what he termed a serious abdication of duty by the government official or officials who leaked the document to the National Wildlife Federation last summer, called for the investigation. Full text
Guest Blogger: Liz Borkowski