|
The Bush administration announced sweeping plans today to waive more
than two dozen laws and regulations so it can finish building hundreds
of miles of walls along the U.S.-Mexico border by year's end.
The Department of Homeland Security decision expands the area in
which the government will sidestep environmental laws. It would apply
to more than 400 miles -- the largest such waiver to date. The
Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and other
environmental laws would not apply to the fence construction.
The
Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife have sued the government for
sidestepping environmental laws for other sections of the fence, some
of which run through federal wildlife refuges or conservation areas.
They have petitioned the Supreme Court to hear a case challenging the
constitutionality of the waivers.
"The DHS waiver is
breathtaking in its scope. It waives nearly all legal requirements that
would apply to anyone else," Audubon President John Flicker said in a
statement. "This decision will cost America dearly, especially when the
benefits of the misguided border fence remain uncertain."
Flicker
and other environmentalists urged the administration and Congress to
reverse course. Some environmental groups oppose the fence itself,
which could cut off wildlife migration routes.
Fish and
Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall has said the wall would help
protect refuges and other federal lands from the trash and destruction
that have come with illegal transport across the borders.
Congress
previously gave Homeland Security authority to waive federal laws so it
could build the fence more quickly. Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff had said the waivers would be used as a last resort but
invoked them today.
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), one of
the sponsors of the waiver authority, applauded the move, saying it
would speed up fence construction that has been delayed for six years.
"Today's
action addresses the myriad of obstacles that have delayed the
construction of fencing across Smugglers Gulch and other dangerous
regions along the border," Hunter said in a statement.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
