Riders dropped from spending bill - Key Jackson adviser leaving EPA - NRC beef ...
COMING [MOSTLY] CLEAN – The year-end omnibus spending bill remains trapped in conference, but whenever the bill does see the light of day, it appears likely that the bill will be largely stripped of policy riders aimed at environmental regulations.
Jim Moran, the House Democrats’ top appropriator, strongly suggested to reporters Tuesday that there were no provisions affecting EPA or Interior Department regulations on mountaintop removal mining. And when asked if there were any riders affecting the EPA at all, Moran answered, “not really.”
LONE RIDER – One provision that is included in the omnibus waives some water study requirements for building roads in forests, but the rider does not affect the much-broader Roadless Rule for national forest conservation, he said.
THE BIG PICTURE — House and Senate Democrats are slow-walking the bill through conference as part of Majority Leader Harry Reid’s effort to keep Republicans in town and gain some leverage in the battle over payroll tax cut legislation. POLITICO’s David Rogers goes behind the scenes: http://politi.co/u13j4X .