Copyright 1999 Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles
Times
November 16, 1999, Tuesday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part A; Page 18; National Desk
LENGTH: 1129 words
HEADLINE:
BUDGET NEGOTIATORS SETTLE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES;
FISCAL POLICY: MOVING
CLOSER TO A FINAL DEAL, CONGRESS, WHITE HOUSE COMPROMISE ON LAND PURCHASE, MINE
DUMPING AND CATTLE GRAZING.
BYLINE: JANET HOOK and ART
PINE, TIMES STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE:
WASHINGTON
BODY:
White House and congressional
negotiators compromised Monday on a series of disputes over environmental
issues, moving closer to a broad-scale budget deal that would enable Congress to
adjourn for the year.
According to senior Clinton administration
officials, the agreement on environmental issues included $ 15 million for the
purchase of up to 500,000 acres of environmentally sensitive desert land in
Southern California, postponing for another year a bid by some lawmakers to link
it to expansion of the Ft. Irwin Army training center.
The
administration persuaded lawmakers to drop a provision that would have allowed a
major expansion of mountaintop mining. And Republicans agreed to impose higher
royalty fees on oil and gas companies that drill on public lands beginning March
15. But the administration had to settle for mixed results on controversial
provisions affecting mine-waste dumping and cattle-grazing fees
on federal lands. Citing progress on those issues, as well as emerging
agreements on international debt relief and on how to offset the cost of
increased spending for President Clinton's priorities, a top White House
official voiced optimism that the final budget deal could be sealed today.
"It's been a pretty good day," said Jacob Lew, director of the Office of
Management and Budget.
White House Defends Abortion Restrictions
The budget negotiations dragged on as the White House defended its
decision to give ground to GOP demands for abortion restrictions on
international family planning organizations in exchange for an agreement to pay
nearly $ 1 billion in dues owed to the United Nations.
The tentative
compromise on the dues, reached late Sunday night, was an important breakthrough
on one of the most difficult issues that has stood between Clinton and an
agreement with Republicans in Congress on the budget for the fiscal year that
began Oct. 1. Coupled with agreements last week to continue Clinton's initiative
to hire 100,000 new teachers over several years and to provide additional
funding that he sought for other programs, the U.N. dues agreement raised hopes
that a complete budget deal could clear Congress later this week.
But
negotiators labored late Monday on a final, crucial piece of the deal: the terms
of spending offsets needed to ensure that the extra money added for Clinton's
priorities does not force the government to dip into the Social Security surplus
for other programs.
Environmental Agreements
The negotiations on
environmental issues included these results:
* The administration gave
ground on a bid by conservative senators to block government regulators from
limiting the amount of toxic waste that mining companies may dump in the areas
around their mines. The compromise would allow the government to limit dumping
by newly opened mines but would permit existing mines to continue dumping at
current levels.
* The conferees scrapped a proposal by Sen. Robert C.
Byrd (D-W.Va.) that would have allowed coal-mining companies to begin blasting
new mines near the tops of mountains in that state.
* Negotiators
thwarted a move by oil-state senators to block an administration plan to
increase royalty fees paid by oil companies that drill on federal land. The
higher fees would go into effect on March 15.
* Both sides compromised
on a bid by conservatives to prevent the government from refusing to renew
cattle-grazing leases on federal lands without environmental impact studies of
the areas in question. The compromise would require the Interior Department to
roll over existing leases, but officials would be able to cancel them if a study
showed the grazing would endanger the land.
Despite the administration's
claims of victory, spokesmen for environmental groups were skeptical. Gregory S.
Wetstone, lobbyist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the
mining-waste provision appeared likely to "give a free pass to" mining firms
that seek to increase their dumping.
The provision affecting the
purchase of land in Southern California involves property--much of it within the
Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park--owned by the Catellus
Development Corp. The Interior Department wants to acquire the property to
protect it from further development.
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) had
sought to make the deal contingent on agreement by the Interior Department to
make other lands available to the Army for expanding Ft. Irwin. Monday's
agreement calls for providing $ 15 million for the purchase without any strings.
But the issue would be revisited next year, when the department will seek a
second $ 15-million appropriation.
In another area of dispute, budget
negotiators late Monday neared agreement on a proposal for financing
international debt relief. GOP conservatives were wary of a proposal by the
International Monetary Fund to finance the debt relief by revaluing its gold
reserves; the emerging compromise would allow such financing within specified
limits.
And negotiators also agreed to provide about $ 500 million in
disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Floyd.
GOP concessions to
Clinton last week had increased the prospects that the final budget deal would
be approved with bipartisan support. But Clinton's concession to conservatives
to win money for U.N. dues outraged abortion-rights advocates and could cost
support among Democrats for the overall budget deal.
"It is a
capitulation," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).
The abortion
compromise, details of which were still being nailed down Monday, would prohibit
U.S.-subsidized family planning groups abroad from promoting or performing
abortions. It would give the president the power to waive the requirement and
allow grant recipients to use non-U.S. sources of funding for abortion-related
activity. But if the waiver authority was used, the $ 385 million provided for
funding for international family planning would be cut by $ 10.5 million. Also,
the compromise would place a $ 15-million limit on the total amount grant
recipients could use for abortion-related activities.
Abortion-rights
advocates were not appeased by the provision allowing the president to waive the
anti-abortion rule. They argued that the policy would set a bad precedent. "That
precedent is putting the women of the world at risk in order to placate the
right-wing Republicans who control Congress,' said Sen. Barbara Boxer
(D-Calif.).
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other
administration officials mobilized to defend the policy.
Underlying all
the jockeying are the last five of the 13 appropriations bills needed to keep
the government running. Since Oct. 1, the government has been funded through a
series of temporary measures.
LOAD-DATE: November 16,
1999 
