Saturday, August 18, 2007

Bureau of "Land" Management

The new director of the Bureau of Land Management, the government agency that controls Federal lands, has done something pretty appalling. He has exempted certain activities--like grazing, oil exploration and forestry--on Federal lands from the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. See a full article from Daily Green here http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/08/14/gov-exempts-258-million-acres-from-environmental-review/5194/.

My question--does he have the authority to do so? I think it would certainly be up for legal challenge--can an executive branch official relieve obligations under a legislative branch mandate?

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