Summit County Citizens Voice

A 100-mile strip adjacent to the U.S. border would be exempt from all environmental laws under a bill passed by the House Natural Resources Committee.

House committee passes border security bill that would exempt huge areas of land from environmental regulations

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Under the guise of homeland security, the  House Committee on Natural Resources this week passed H.R. 1505, the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, by a vote of 26 to 17.

The bill would cede control of all federal lands with 100 miles of the U.S. border to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by prohibiting the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture from using environmental regulations to hinder U.S. Border Patrol from securing the border on federal lands.

“H.R. 1505 is a common sense solution that addresses one of the prevailing issues preventing us from gaining full operational control of the border – the U.S. Border Patrol’s lack of sufficient access to millions of acres of federally owned land,” said Utah Rep. Rob Bishop, chair of the considered further and ultimately brought to the floor of the House for a final vote,” said National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee.

Conservation groups are not happy with the bill — to say the least. According to the Wilderness Society, the measure would also exempt the Department of Homeland Security from compliance with dozens of environmental statutes that protect the air and water quality, as well as habitat for endangered species. The group characterized the measure as an unwarranted land grab. (more…)

Filed under: Environment, Summit County news | Tagged: H.R. 1505, House Natural Resources Committee, National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, United States, United States Border Patrol, United States Department of Homeland Security, Wilderness Society | 1 Comment »