PCU //\ Free Assembly Project /
St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
_//\___________________________________________an Association of Volunteers__/
1 April 2022 ~ PUBLIC INFO WITH ATTITUDE ~
FS Regs Project | Regress Report
This is an update with the lowdown on the Petition to Amend the Forest Service ‘Group Use’ regulations, submitted to the USDA in September 2021, and announced by this Public Info post: FS Regs Petition | Revival in DC (9/20/21)
The next news went out two months later – a brief account of a virtual meeting with USFS staff from the Chief’s Office, and a wry retort to the needless hysteria roused on the backside: Secret Meeting Report [an oxymoron] (11/20/2021)
Then things got real slow… it seemed the process was moving at government’s typical tortoise pace, but it just hopped backwards like a scared hare. This report recaps the early business, where it has come, and points to what is to be done:::
\__Getting a Meeting____
In September as the Petition was presented to the USDA Office of Natural Resources & Environment, we requested a meeting with Dep. UnderSecretary Meryl Harrell and NRE staff – to answer any questions and discuss how they would proceed in reviewing and advancing the rule proposal. The full package was also provided in digital format, and with a summary email listing the documents with live links, to make it easy to circulate the materials to concerned staff. We reasonably expected to meet in a few weeks, giving them time to scope it out – routine courteous business to get the project on track. It took 2 months instead:
A virtual meeting was finally convened on 11/16/2021… our able contributors talked about the dark history of the ‘Group Use’ Regs, sharing earnest concerns and compelling needs to change them. Then we were shocked to learn that the Feds across the table had not even read the Petition, and were totally unprepared to discuss the issues or the course of the rulemaking. Moreover all of them (except the LEO!) were mid-level officials in the FS Chief’s office – no one showed up from NRE, where the Petition was properly submitted and USDA regulatory decisions are made. The real business did not get done.
A second ‘NRE Meeting Request’ was filed immediately, to follow up fast by early December and get the right people there. No response, as weeks went by… calls went to voicemail, emails into the blue, not hearing back – but then a stern inquiry at the Secretary’s office and a few genial personal conversations with FS attendees got some action. It took 3-1/2 months more:
\__Following Through____
On 3/1/2022 we met with the same group of FS honchos, led by Deputy Chief Chris French, who explained that they had been assigned the initial review of the rule proposal, and would send recommendations to the UnderSecretary. He said he had seen the Petition, but showed no cognizance of its content – instead posturing on the agency’s conundrum (“Should we do this?”) in light of the legal grounds, policy effects & admin burdens in taking such action – inviting answers and another conference in 2 weeks.
Of course this was just generic bureau-speak about their job on any proposed rule, and the broad questions they are obliged to consider. And in fact all these concerns were fully anticipated and addressed in the Petition, the answers were on the table, unheeded – however we put in a good prospectus letter in response before meeting again. It took 3 weeks instead:
• Letter | Plan for the Group Use Rule Proposal (3/20/2022)
On 3/22/2022 the next Zoom convened, and French announced that they had already sent recommendations upstairs to NRE, before receiving our input. He would not disclose what they said, complained of Agency workloads and admonished that few such rule petitions go anywhere; this time other attending staff did not speak. He then kept postulating that “Rainbow” really seems like an organization (?!), contributors ‘took de bait’, and debate on this delusion wasted our time until the meeting closed. It blew a half hour.
Now there is a Problem: The Feds’ preliminary review of the proposal had taken six months… it was ineptly delayed and diverted, never reached the substance of the plan, and it looks like the evaluation is a hack job. We acted quickly, submitting a Freedom of Information Request to the USDA Office of Information Affairs, seeking transparency on these proceedings. It only took 2 days:
• FOIA | Proceedings on CFR Petition per 5 U.S.C. §553(e) (3/24/2022)
\__Busting the Stonewall____
It’s unclear why the review & meetings were delegated to the FS Chief’s office or put under French: It’s noteworthy that he was briefly the Acting Dep. UnderSecretary at NRE last year (Jan.-May ’21), placed in that job by Trump’s AgSec Sonny Perdue – ostensibly for the ‘transition’, until Biden appointees came in. This smells of his mentors’ politics… he should have known the ropes, but seemed clueless on the rulemaking process – OR he knew exactly how to do nothing. Six months behind the curve, or maybe 40 years.
At this critical juncture, the Regs Petition is at-risk of being summarily dumped and denied the full assessments required for agency approvals – the tests it was designed to meet. This interim is important, before a decision is made at NRE… responsible officials need to know the public stakes, and that the public is watching. Tell them to proceed on the Group USE rulemaking, and give the proposal fair and competent review on the merits. Call and write this week, immediately if not sooner:
Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture: (202) 720-3631
Meryl Harrell, Deputy Under Secretary: (202) 720-7173
-– Natural Resources & Environment, USDA eM: Meryl.Harrell@usda.gov
1400 Independence Ave. SW – Suite 202-W
Washington, DC 20250
It is also a good time for outreach to Congress & Rights Allies…
we have good tools and help for this, inquiries welcome.
Respects,
__scottie addison____
Coordinator & Scribe