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by Nicholas L. Cain
How would you like less arsenic in your drinking water?
A 1999 National Academy of Sciences report found that the current arsenic
standard is unsafe and should be revised "as promptly as possible." Independent
arsenic experts and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agree.
Based on this information, any sane person would want to reduce the amount
of arsenic in our drinking water. But on June 21, Congress did the exact opposite: The
House voted against clean drinking water by blocking enforcement of the EPA's new standard
for arsenic. And Congress made this important decision without public debate or discussion
by using an under-handed legislative trick: anti-environmental appropriations riders.
A "rider" is an amendment, usually unrelated to the issue at
hand, that is tacked onto a piece of legislation. Most anti-environmental riders would not
withstand public scrutiny, so legislators bury them in must-pass spending bills. After the
public flogging lawmakers endured over their misuse of riders last year, you might be
tempted to think that Congress had gotten the message: Americans overwhelmingly support
environmental protections and want them strengthened. But as we face another slew of
budget bills loaded with toxic riders, it's obvious that some representatives have turned
a blind eye to the concerns of Americans.
For politicians who want to undermine environmental protections without
too many eyes watching, riders provide the perfect means. "The most dangerous aspect
of anti-environmental appropriations riders," said Debbie Sease, the Sierra Club's
legislative director, "is that major changes in environmental laws are made without
public debate, under the cover of dark."
And Sease is not exaggerating. Several weeks ago, Rep. George Nethercutt
(R-Wash.) actually waited until midnight to get his rider in. Nethercutt initially tried
to insert a rider to derail the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Plan - a
program to coordinate the protection of watersheds and wildlands in the Columbia Basin -
in the daylight hours. The House voted by a sizable margin to toss this rider out and then
blocked its reintroduction. Instead of heeding the votes, Nethercutt just waited.
As the highly technical appropriations process dragged on into the night,
representatives started to leave. Around midnight, after many had left, Nethercutt
successfully re-introduced his measure. As of our publication date, it's still there.
And Nethercutt's rider is hardly the worst of this year's bunch.
A rider inserted in the Interior appropriations bill will block funding
for federal efforts to combat global warming.
Another rider recently introduced would halt the EPA's clean-up of the
Hudson River until an additional report has been completed - delaying badly needed
restoration efforts.
As they did last year, Sens. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Frank Murkowski
(R-Alaska) have introduced a rider that will undermine revised limits on how much waste
can be dumped by mines.
A rider inserted in the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill by Sens.
Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) would block efforts to reform the Army
Corps of Engineers and, in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, abolish civilian
control of the agency.
Other riders seek to undermine the Endangered Species Act, delay forest
planning and stymie needed wilderness inventories.
But despite this long list of dangerous amendments, there is a potent
antidote on-hand - public scrutiny. Last year, a national outcry eliminated some of the
worst riders. Over the summer - and in November - we need to send an even stronger
message: Riders are wrong and those who vote against the environment do so at their own
risk.
To Take Action: Contact your senators and representatives
to let them know that you want them to protect our environment, not trash it. Also let
them know that you disapprove of the use of riders to make changes in policy and that you
are watching their votes carefully.
Write U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510 and U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, DC 20515.
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