E-M:/ John Dingell Running with Reactionary Republicans on Citizen Suits

["Alex J. Sagady & Associates" <ajs@sagady.com>]

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Enviro-Mich message from "Alex J. Sagady & Associates" <ajs@sagady.com>
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John Dingell is apparently making
palls with reactionary  Republicans like James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) in plans
to trash the ability of citizens to bring lawsuits under federal 
environmental law to enforce federal standards.

Inhofe plans an assault during the reauthorization of the Federal
Clean Air Act on the citizen suit provisions of the Act that are used
by the American Lung Association, Sierra Club and Natural Resources
Defense Council to ensure that legislative accomplishments for
the environment are actually translated into real world accomplishments
rather than being ignored by EPA.

These same provisions have been under attack by Supreme Court 
Justice Antonin Scalia with some adverse decisions coming out that
deny federal court jurisdiction for environmental law suits.

But here's what Michigan's John Dingell had to say at a conference
of the industry-funded,conservative think-tank, the Annapolis Center as recently
reported:

"EPA now regularly enters into sweetheart settlements with
environmental groups that bring deadline suits...EPA effectively places these
interest groups in charge of the timing and even the content of the agency's
rulemaking to the exclusion of other interests.  Bureaucratic lags in EPA's
rulemaking duties should not justify letting the first group to file suit
dictate the final decision,"   Dingell said.





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Alex J. Sagady & Associates        Email:  ajs@sagady.com
Environmental Consulting and Database Systems
PO Box 39  East Lansing, MI  48826-0039  
(517) 332-6971 (voice); (517) 332-8987 (fax)



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