Published: Oct. 24, 2011 Updated: 1:24 p.m.
BY CINDY CARCAMO / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A bill that would allow U.S. Border Patrol officials to flout environmental laws along the southern and northern U.S. borders may soon be heading to the House, according to news reports.

Designed by House Republicans to beef up national security, the bill would grant Border Patrol officials authority to disregard 36 environmental laws on federal land along the Canadian and Mexican borders, according to news reports. Those laws include the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and 33 other federal laws in a variety of protected land, according to the reports.

The plan would leave Border Patrol officials free to build roads and offices, erect fences, set up sensors and surveillance gear and operate aircraft and vehicles to patrol in national parks, forests and protected federal land along a 100-mile border zone, according to news outlets.

Bill sponsor Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, told Fox News that the environmental regulations are keeping border officials from protecting the border.

"The policies of the United States unfortunately and unwittingly make it easier for illegals to come across public lands," Bishop said last week at a House Natural Resources Committee meeting.

A number of environmental groups are opposing the bill. Jane Danowitz, the Pew Environment Group's director of public lands, said the plan would allow a single federal agency to destroy wildlife habitat and wetlands and hurt water quality.

"We're talking about waiving laws that protect habitat and clean air and clean water in national parks and other beloved places that Americans really cherish – and that belong to all of us," she told The News Tribune.

Some of areas that could be affected are Olympic National Park, Glacier Park, the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area and the Great Lakes, according to news reports.

The bill passed the House Natural Resources Committee. It's unclear when and if it will head to the Republican-controlled house.

Border agents have access to federal land maintained by the government's environmental stewards. However, agents have to follow certain procedures in order to pursue suspects or set up routine patrols.

Legislation proponents include the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, United Four-Wheel Drive Associations, the National Association of Police Organizations and the Motorcycle Industry Council, according to news reports.

The bill, which the GOP calls the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, is part of the 2010 "Pledge to America," according to news reports.

The pledge was made by Republicans who vowed to give border agents more "tools and authorities to establish operational control" along the nation's border.

Read more about the bill in Fox News, McClatchy Newspapers, The Bellingham Herald, and The News Tribune.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7924 or ccarcamo@ocregister.com or www.twitter.com/thecindycarcamo

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