SE Wyoming News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Congressional Western Caucus Chair Dan Newhouse (WA-04) introduced the Reducing Environmental Gamesmanship (REGS) Act to prohibit federal agencies from enforcing the Biden-Harris administration’s environmental justice initiatives in the western United States by nullifying two executive orders.

“The Biden-Harris administration has made it crystal clear that it will do anything to appease its radical environmental base, even at the expense of Wyoming and the American west,” said Lummis. “Wyoming households continue to shell out record amounts of their hard-earned money to keep up with this administration’s self-inflicted high energy costs at a time when they’re already spending more to keep up with inflation. I am partnering with Rep. Newhouse to overturn this administration’s radical agenda to ease the financial strain this administration has put on western communities and scale back the executive branch’s self-awarded power.”

“‘Environmental justice’ is another ploy by extreme activists to block traditional energy and infrastructure projects and force a green transition,” said Newhouse. “The reality is that if this agenda is put in place, the very low-income communities the left is claiming to help would be overburdened by higher energy costs. I’m proud to partner with Senator Lummis to overturn the Biden Administration’s environmental justice executive orders to help underserved communities and reclaim Congress’ legislative authority post-Chevron doctrine.”

Without direction from Congress, the Biden administration has decided that 40% of funding from certain federal programs must go to “disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.” President Biden has stated that “the pursuit of environmental justice is a duty of all executive branch agencies” and that federal agencies should incorporate this charge into their missions, despite such authority lying with Congress. The Biden-Harris administration’s environmental justice initiatives have exacerbated permitting delays, creating additional red tape and delaying environmental cleanup.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act created a program for orphan well plugging with clear guidelines for eligibility. However, as part of its environmental justice initiative, the Department of the Interior requires states to include environmental justice activities in their applications, which some argue violates congressional intent and renders the program infeasible for many states while delaying orphan well cleanup efforts. In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which ended the Chevron doctrine, Chairs Newhouse and Lummis introduced this legislation to reclaim Congress’ authority.