Rob Bishop: “I am pleased to speak on this different kind of rule. It is basically a rule defining a rule that defines future…”

“I am pleased to speak on this different kind of rule. It is basically a rule defining a rule that defines future activity. So it is somewhat convoluted. But this is a regulation--one more of those broad, midnight regulations--that affects 250 million acres of land, almost all of which is found in the West. Even in my own district, it will affect 3 million acres of land; that means something that is bigger than the State of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. It affects us with disastrous consequences. As has been said, this dilutes local and State voices and centralizes power here in Washington, D.C. By law already, the agencies have got to meet with local and State leaders and coordinate, which they are not doing well. This undermines that specifically, and it stacks the deck from the very beginning against counties and State voices and against multiple use. This puts special interest groups above elected local officials, which is not the way it was ever intended to be. There are 60 different organizations that are begging us to repeal this bad rule. In my district, the Duchesne County Commissioners wrote us to say: ``Our constituents are good stewards of the land, dedicated to meeting environmental requirements, while developing and supplying affordable energy to consumers. We believe Planning 2.0 presents multiple challenges that will prejudice multiple use interests with a bias. . . . '' That bias is clearly there.…”