Senator Inhofe Supports Senator Grassley's Bill to End Sue-and-Settle Abuse

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:

Kristina Baum - 202.224.6176

Donelle Harder - 202.224.1282

Senator Inhofe Supports Senator Grassley's Bill to End Sue-and-Settle Abuse

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OKla.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, joined Senator Chuck Grassley in introducing the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act (S.378), legislation that would bring common sense reforms to federal agency abuse of "sue-and-settle" tactics. Sue-and-settle provides a scheme for environmental activists to advance their radical agenda by suing a federal agency under an obscure legal provision and reaching an arrangement for regulatory action without any meaningful input from interested parties.

"For too long, federal agencies and environmentalists have been shaping costly and burdensome regulations behind closed doors, shutting out elected officials, states and localities, and private citizens through a process called sue-and-settle," Inhofe said. "The most egregious offender in the Obama Administration is the E.P.A. who, through sue-and-settle tactics, has abandoned its previous, long-standing policy of working closely with states to regulate and enforce rules. Senator Grassley's common sense legislation brings much needed transparency and public participation to regulatory practices of federal agencies."

As it relates to the Committee on Environment and Public Works, sue-and-settle tactics run rampant at the E.P.A. (EPA) and the Department of Interior's U.S.F.W.S. (FWS). While in excess of 100 rules issued during the 1st term of the Obama Administration are attributed to sue-and-settle, some of the most egregious examples from the E.P.A. and FWS include:

• An arrangement between FWS and Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians in 2011 to list in excess of 250 species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Recent analysis reveals settlements with these groups have included a combined 1,008 species.

• An E.P.A. arrangement in 2013 to tighten EPA's National Ambient Air Quality Requirements (NAAQS) for ozone prompted by a Sierra Club petition.

• An E.P.A. arrangement in 2012 to issue additional methane-specific new source performance Requirements for the oil and natural gas sector prompted by a Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club petition.

• An E.P.A. arrangement in 2010 to issue new source performance Requirements for greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants prompted by a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Environmental Defense Fund.

• An E.P.A. arrangement in 2010 to issue federal implementation projects under the regional haze program, which was prompted by a petition from environmental groups including Sierra Club and WildEarth Guardians.

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