By JOE GROSSMAN, UPI Science Writer

Oct 13, 2001 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- As Congress tries to get back to normal functioning, following the Sept. 11 attacks, three issues with significant environmental implications have seen committee action.

A conference of the House and Senate appropriations committees agreed to one rider that could impact 80 national forests and another that would allow increased numbers of cruise ships to enter an environmentally sensitive area in Alaska. The House Ways and Means Committee voted out a bill that would create presidential trade promotion authority, often called fast track.

The fast track argument has been going on for seven years, to some extent along party lines. But the moves by the appropriations committees' conference may signal a shift away from the environmental direction the Senate seemed to be heading since former Republican Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont jumped ship and became an Independent, giving the Democrats a Senate majority of one vote. While more than a few senators cross party lines on environmental votes on the floor, the shift of the committees to Democratic chairpersons was expected to result in a more environmentally oriented slant to bills coming out of committee.

The votes in House-Senate conference this week may be a harbinger of less of an environmental focus. The huge financial and economic impacts of the Sept. 11 attacks may have caused a shift in thinking, and the actions on the riders may be the first hint. There may be a temptation for elected officials to look at the recession, at what is regarded as an economic slump, at the money needed for the economic stimulus package, military operations and direct assistance to New York City and to place potential moneymaking approaches over achieving goals of environmental protection.

Some studies, however, such as a report from the Institute for Southern Studies, "Gold & Green 2000," conclude states with the highest environmental grades also boast the best economies.

Sue Gunn, an environmental policy specialist for the Wilderness Society, commented on the potential shift.

"Sept. 11 has changed everything. The environmentalists were the most potent I've seen them . . . at the beginning of the year. Since this has happened, we've been quiet and respectful. I think (we still ) have the ability to influence really bad things, but to influence subtle things, like the budget, I think we're right now in the mud. It's just impossible," Gunn told United Press International.

The riders that impact forest planing and marine wildlife were attached to the Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill of 2002.

Currently, the forest plans for national forests must be updated every 15 years. The riders, if they pass House and Senate votes, will exempt the U.S. Forest Service from lawsuits if it fails to meet the every 15-year-update requirement.

According to a group suing the Forest Service, Biodiversity Associates of Laramie, Wyo., a report commissioned by the Forest Service in 1990 showed the Medicine Bow National Forest plan did not show sufficient concern for biodiversity and did not take into account the possible cumulative effects the management plan could have. One problem singled out was that timber sales had been pegged at an unacceptably high level. In spite of repeated assertions, said Biodiversity's director, Jeff Kessler, the Forest Service failed to complete its plan on time. Biodiversity wants all timber harvesting and road building to cease in Medicine Bow until a sound forest plan is completed.

The Forest Service is fearful a victorious suit by Biodiversity could open the door to other lawsuits about dozens of national forests.

In addition to pleasing the Forest Service, the House and Senate appropriations conference gave the tourist industry in Alaska a boost. The conference agreed to a rider introduced by Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska that would reverse a U.S. District Court decision that had temporarily limited cruise ships in environmentally sensitive Glacier Bay.

The fight was over the number of cruise ships entering the bay, which is a breeding ground for whales and teems with marine life. The number of cruise ships that come to see the endangered humpback whale, as well as orca and minke whales, porpoises, harbor seals, sea lions, sea otters and dozens of bird species have come to be regarded by many as a menace to wildlife. Glacier Bay is part of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

During the summer tourist season the number of ships had been limited to 107 per year, a court-ordered cut from the previous level of 139 ships per season. Stevens, the ranking Republican on the appropriations committee, introduced the rider that would override the court order, allowing 139 ships and possibly more. A rider is the informal name for certain types of legislative amendments that may be unconnected to other issues in a bill or affect funding in an appropriation bill.

Concern about the pollution from cruise ships discharging waste as well as creating noise pollution in the Glacier Bay breeding grounds has been a driving force in the effort to limit their numbers. Matters came to a head this past summer when a cruise ship hit and killed a pregnant humpback whale. Ships have been cited for illegal discharges into the bay waters. Glacier Bay is part of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

On a much larger scale was the fight over fast track in the House Ways and Means Committee. The contentious fast track authority would give U.S. presidents the right to negotiate trade agreements and then bring them to Congress for a yes or no vote. The committee's vote was a victory for free traders in this long-running dispute.

The vote is being heavily criticized by opponents as threatening environmental laws in the United States, as well as from labor and procedural perspectives. Labor groups around the world have long objected because the proposed agreements do not offer protections to workers, yet take advantage of low wages in developing countries.

A statement issued by House Ways and Means Chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., said, "The compromise includes a clear negotiating objective on labor and environment that will ensure that a party to an agreement does not fail to effectively enforce its own labor and environmental laws in a manner that affects trade." The committee, with 24 Republicans and 17 Democrats voted essentially along party lines. Thomas titled his bill, "The Bipartisan Trade Promotion Act of 2001."

Opponents of the committee vote are concerned U.S. environmental laws will be threatened. Trade agreements favored by free traders include the right of foreign corporations to sue the U.S. government for damages if any law restricts their right to trade. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, a billion-dollar lawsuit has been brought against the United States by a Canadian corporation because California wants to ban gasoline with a highly polluting and toxic gasoline additive.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said, "On the environment, the Thomas bill does not address key problems in the investment area or protect that concrete steps be taken to integrate Multilateral Environmental Agreements with trade agreements."

To become law, fast track will need to pass on the House floor, get through the Senate Finance Committee and a vote in the Senate, all seen as potentially formidable hurdles.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.