Twenty-six federal laws have been waived for a new section of the border wall to be built in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.
The laws struck down by the Biden administration were all designed to protect wildlife and public health.
They include: the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Farmland Protection Policy Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Relocation Act.
An analysis of the plans by The Post shows Starr County where the wall is being built continues into wildlife preserves, near farmland that could be contaminated, and weaves around small towns that could be affected by construction.
Deborah Sivas, a professor of environmental law at Stanford Law School, told The Post she was “personally troubled” by the waiver because it applies to almost “every environmental law you can think of.”
“For any federal project, the agency usually has to assess something… There are a lot of endangered species along the border and it’s fragile.
26 federal laws have been waived for new sections of the border wall to be built – right through wildlife preserves, farmland and small towns that the project will likely affect.X / @IngridNewkirk
“What this does is sidestep that whole process and say ‘just start building’.”
Starr County is home to about 65,000 residents and several endangered species of animals – including the Ocelot, the spotted wildcat – and plants, spread over approximately 1,200 square miles that make up part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
According to Sivas, the waiver allows the Department of Homeland Security to completely bypass the environmental review process and will not be required to obtain a permit to ensure it does not emit pollutants and hazardous substances, explained Sivas.
They include: the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Farmland Protection Policy Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Relocation Act.Wikipedia
“I have very serious concerns about this,” he said.
“It’s not the wall or the infrastructure itself that’s the problem…it’s the staging for it, bringing workers in, building work camps, waste management – none of that would be subject to environmental laws if it’s all widely dismissed,” he said.
“It’s quite serious if [the project is] affect wetlands or river systems and do not go through the review process.
Deborah Sivas, a professor of environmental law at Stanford Law School, told The Post she was “personally troubled” by the waiver because it applies to almost “every environmental law you can think of.” Getty Images
The design of the border barrier is slated to include six-inch square steel bollards 18 feet high spaced about four inches apart and embedded into a removable concrete base, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The Biden administration’s announcement of overturning more than a dozen federal laws comes as a sharp reversal of its previous stance on the border wall.
Biden repeatedly voiced his opposition to the wall while running for re-election in 2020, saying: “There will be no more wall building in my administration.”
According to Sivas, the waiver allows the Department of Homeland Security to completely bypass the environmental review process and will not be required to obtain a permit to ensure it does not emit pollutants and hazardous substances, explained Sivas.
“Building a massive wall spanning the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution,” Biden said in a declaration to stop the building on January 20, 2021.
The 26 federal laws being waived by the Biden administration to build a new border wall are:
- National Environmental Policy Act
- Endangered Species Act
- Federal Water Pollution Control Act
- National Historic Preservation Act
- Migratory Bird Treaty Act
- Migratory Bird Conservation Act
- Clean Air Act
- Archaeological Resources Protection Act
- Paleontological Resources Conservation Act
- Safe Drinking Water Act
- Noise Control Act
- The Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
- Archaeological and Historical Preservation Act
- Antiquities Act
- Historic Sites, Buildings and Antiquities Act
- Farmland Protection Policy Act
- National Wildlife Protection System Administration Act
- National Fish and Wildlife Act 1956
- Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
- National Route System Act
- Administrative Procedure Act
- Eagle Protection Act
- Native American Graves Protection and Relocation Act
- American Indian Religious Freedom Act
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
