Welcome to The New Interior, a periodic update from Steptoe & Johnson LLP to keep you informed of coming changes at the Department of Interior, and for related matters on Capitol Hill and elsewhere with a new administration taking charge in Washington, D.C.  We intend to bring you the very latest on anticipated moves by the Obama Administration and in the 111^th Congress over the next several months, as a new direction takes shape for Interior-related positions and policies.

If you would like to speak with a Steptoe attorney about our Interior practice, please reply to this email or contact Tom Collier (202.429.6242 or tcollier@steptoe.com) or Jody Cummings (202.429.8096 or jcummings@steptoe.com). 

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Salazar Likely to Scrap OCS Drilling Plan, Will Take Hard Look at Other Issues

Not surprisingly, Secretary Salazar indicated this week that he has little interest in following a 5-year plan for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) drilling that the Bush Administration formally proposed just before leaving town.  The plan would open vast areas off the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts to drilling.  The Secretary suggested that OCS drilling should be addressed in comprehensive energy legislation, which will obviously require extensive coordination with the Congress.

Speaking on oil shale development in the west – a subject that he butted heads with the Bush Administration on last year – Secretary Salazar indicated that any moves forward should be slow and cautious, until more can be understood about the long term impacts of such activity on water resources and climate change.  As he has pointed out previously, the Secretary noted that oil shale extraction requires significant amounts of water and electric power.

Secretary Salazar has promised to reconsider at least ten midnight regulations that the Bush Administration promulgated.  The rulemakings likely to be re-examined include the controversial Endangered Species Act consultation requirement change; proposals impacting oil shale permitting, and oil and gas permits issued near two national parks near Utah; and a Bush administration decision to exclude global warming considerations when acting to protect endangered species.

Salazar Begins Work on Department’s Ethical Concerns

Making good on a promise this week to begin addressing ethics and standards issues within the Department, Secretary Salazar traveled to Denver to speak with employees at the Minerals Management Service (MMS) office where the Inspector General found numerous ethical breaches during the Bush Administration.  In his remarks, the Secretary laid out a six-part action plan to be led by his Chief of Staff, Tom Strickland, as part of the first steps for ethics reform within the Department:

• Further examination of potential criminal conduct by those who were directly involved in the scandals described in the three Inspector General reports.  The Department of Justice and, if appropriate, the Colorado United States Attorney’s office, will review whether the criminal determinations made earlier were correct.
  
  
• Strickland will review personnel actions that were taken against individuals involved to determine whether the sanctions were appropriate, or if additional sanctions are needed.
  
  
• Strickland will lead a review of various recommendations issued following previous investigation of the MMS scandal to assess the progress and effectiveness of the implementation of the recommendations.
  
  
• A new Code of Conduct has been published for all MMS employees.  The Code was designed specifically to address some of the problems identified by the Inspector General, and clarifies the ethics standards to which all employees are bound.
  
  
• A thorough review of the Department’s ethics policies and guidelines will be undertaken shortly.
  
  
• The Department will examine a fundamental restructuring of MMS’s royalty program so that taxpayers get their fair share from the development of natural resources on public lands.

Will Indian Affairs Front Runner Face Opposition?

Although no official word has been issued yet, we hear that both Secretary Salazar and the White House have signed off on Idaho lawyer and Brigham Young University Law School professor Larry EchoHawk as the nominee for Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.  EchoHawk is a member of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.  He has served in the Idaho legislature, and was the first Indian elected to a statewide office, serving as Idaho’s Attorney General in the 1990s.  His brother, John EchoHawk, is Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund, and has had a significant role on President Obama’s Department of Interior transition team. 

While EchoHawk has been viewed as an advocate for tribes during his political and legal career, his potential nomination has drawn criticism because of past actions relating to Indian gaming.  Critics say that while serving as Idaho’s Attorney General, EchoHawk pushed Idaho lawmakers to alter state law in efforts to avoid negotiating a Class III gaming compact with tribes.  At least one Idaho tribe has offered public support for the choice of EchoHawk, but it is not yet clear how other tribes may be taking news of his likely nomination.

Longtime Indian country advocate, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), praised EchoHawk’s selection at a recent meeting with tribal leaders, urging them to consider the personal qualities that EchoHawk brings to public service, rather than placing too much emphasis on what he did in former official capacities.

The Latest on Potential Appointments

We hear that the appointment of David Getches as Solicitor may have hit a speed bump.  Apparently, the fact that neither the Deputy Secretary, the Secretary’s Chief of Staff, nor Solicitor would be a female or a racial/ethnic minority has caused some involved in the selection process to ask questions that have slowed things down. No specific new candidates have yet to emerge.

Names that we have already mentioned as potential appointees remain likely for open Interior slots: Laura Daniels-Davis should return to the Department as Deputy Secretary nominee David Hayes’ Chief of Staff.  Also, Michael Connor, who works on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources staff, is the leading candidate for Assistant Secretary for Water and Science.  Connor worked with Steptoe’s John Duffy as a water rights negotiator.  He has strong support for the job from Sen. Jeff Bingham (D-NM) and Deputy Secretary nominee David Hayes.

A handful of folks are being considered for National Park Service (NPS) Director.  The names include several who are current NPS employees, like NPS Pacific West Regional Director Jon Jarvis, as well as a few past NPS employees, including former NPS Alaska Regional Director Rob Arnsberger.  David Simon, Director of New Mexico State Parks is also being mentioned for this job.

Bob Stanton, former NPS Director during the Clinton Administration, remains in consideration for Assistant Secretary of Fish and Wildlife and Parks. Dan Ash, former Assistant Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), has also been mentioned for that Assistant Secretary slot as well as for the FWS Director job.  Wildlife department heads in Michigan and New Mexico state government are also being considered for the FWS Director job.

We also hear that Jim Lyons, former Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment, is in the mix for Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management.

Firsthand Look at House Natural Resource Committee Priorities

We met this week with Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), who chairs the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands of the House Natural Resources Committee.  Congressman Grijalva’s subcommittee has jurisdiction over issues relating to the National Wilderness Preservation System, units of the National Park and National Forest System, and the Bureau of Land Management, among other areas.

Congressman Grijalva and his staff are very excited about working with the new team at Interior. Although the Congressman was a serious candidate for the Secretary position, he is eager to work with Secretary Salazar and sees his subcommittee’s agenda as chock-full of interesting issues. At the top of the list are Interior’s "workforce" issues.  The morale of some of the career employees in certain agencies, and across the board, could not be lower. The Department of Interior and many of its subcomponents continue to score very poorly in surveys of federal government employee satisfaction and engagement, and retention of good employees is a major concern. Grijalva wants to explore how best to make significant improvements. 

A related issue – and one that has been mentioned by the Secretary – is how to ensure that science has its rightful and preferred place in decision making. The Congressman wants to make sure that science can not be pushed aside for political considerations.

Next would be undoing some of the regulations that Members believe do not reflect this Administration's policy positions. High on that list is the "roadless rule," which would implement more protection from road building and development on public lands.  The Clinton Administration had instituted a “roadless rule,” but it was quickly overturned when President Bush took office.  Congressman Grijalva expects budget oversight and fire suppression to receive significant attention.  Also, energy production and leasing issues will likely be the subject of committee hearings.

Congressman Grijalva has particular concern about uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, an issue that has received significant attention from environmentalist groups.  Also, he is concerned about, and wants to look into concession agreements in the national parks and elsewhere – particularly exclusive use agreements.  Management of the Park Police is another area his Subcommittee may address. The role of public lands in dealing with climate control is also a priority.  Land acquisition and funding could also be a possible agenda item. 

Look for several hearings, including field hearings, on some of these issues. So far, none of the House committee staff appears to have been selected for slots at Interior.  We think that could change over the next month.