In the 2008 consent decree that ended a lawsuit against the National Park Service by environmental groups, park officials were required to complete an off-road vehicle management plan by Dec. 31 and to have a final special regulation implemented by April 1.
As we all have probably noticed by now, in the three years since the consent decree was signed, the Park Service hasn?t even come close.
At a status conference in early December of last year, a U.S. attorney explained to federal Judge Terrence Boyle, who is overseeing the decree, that the Park Service was working really hard but was not going to meet those deadlines.
The attorney for the National Park Service told the judge that the final ORV rule would not be available until April or May and that the implementation of the plan wouldn?t come until sometime after Labor Day.
Later at a meeting in mid-December with reporters, seashore Superintendent Mike Murray said a proposed rule was expected in February or March, a final rule in the summer, and implementation in the fall.
At the rate that this process is moving, we will be lucky to see a proposed management rule by April or May.
In an e-mail this week, Murray said the proposed ORV rule was still being reviewed by the Department of Interior and the National Park Service ? agencies that received the document two months ago on Jan. 26.
After the DOI and NPS review, the proposed rule goes to the Office of Management and Budget, which Murray says has up to 90 days to review it.
If OMB is speedy in its review, there could be a proposed rule by Easter ? maybe. If OMB is not speedy ? and everything in Washington seems to be moving at a glacial pace this year?it could be Memorial Day or even July 4 before there is a proposed rule.
And this will be only a proposed rule, based on the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which was finished late last year.
Once the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register, it will be open to public comment for 60 days.
After public comment closes, the Park Service has to sort and respond to comments before it can publish a final rule. That process will likely take several months.
Next would come publishing a final rule in the Federal Register, followed by a 30-day waiting period before it could be implemented.
We could be easily looking at the end of the year before there is a final rule ? if even by then.
Murray said in his e-mail this week that the Park Service would be updating Boyle on the ORV rule timeline at the status conference on the consent decree that he has scheduled for Thursday, April 7, in Raleigh.
Meanwhile, unless any of the parties to the consent decree object, the seashore will apparently be managed again this summer under the terms of the consent decree.
As contentious as the consent decree has been, many beach access advocates find it easier to swallow than the Park Service chosen alternative in the Final Environmental Impact Statement.
Some are beginning to wonder what effect the logjam on budget-making in the current Congress will have on the future of a final plan.
Federal agencies still do not have a final budget for the 2011 fiscal year and are still operating under a Continuing Resolution that has been extended multiple times. The current CR runs until April 8.
With no budget for the rest of the year in place, agencies are having a difficult time planning for anything.
Fiscal year 2011 is already half over. The 2012 fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
The 2012 budget is expected to be even more contentious.
This leaves some interesting questions to be answered.
The Park Service?s chosen alternative under the FEIS calls for significant infrastructure improvements ? that will require more expensive environmental studies ? and no sure way of paying for them.
Can the Park Service implement a final ORV rule before all of these new ramps and parking areas and interdunal roads are in place? And can the Park Service pay for whatever environmental studies that will be required before the improvements can be made?
The park has said it will use permit fees to help pay for not only the new ramps but also the extra personnel that will be required to implement a final rule.
But can the seashore charge for a permit without the infrastructure in place?
Furthermore, seashore officials have said that a permit cost cannot be developed until there is more certainty in the federal budget.
All of us are anxious to see the proposed ? and the final ? ORV rule.
On this blog and on Internet message boards, readers have been expressing their frustration with the status quo, which has included the earliest ever closing of Cape Point to ORVs. The Point closed last week.
Some of these folks, most of whom don?t live here, have blamed island residents and businesses and beach access advocacy groups for not doing anything to change the game.
This is just not true. Many people ? locals and visitors ? have worked hard both out front and behind the scenes during the rulemaking process. Unfortunately, the Park Service has taken few of their views into consideration so far.
The fact is there is very little that can be done until this rulemaking process plays out, until we have a final rule, which is really the last piece of the puzzle.
Meanwhile, since you can?t fish at Cape Point, you could head for Raleigh on April 7 to watch the latest theatrics in the courtroom. The status conference is open to the public.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
For more information on the rulemaking process in the last few months, you can go to:
http://islandfreepress.org/PivotBlog/pivot/entry.php?id=124#body
http://islandfreepress.org/PivotBlog/pivot/entry.php?id=129#body
http://islandfreepress.org/PivotBlog/pivot/entry.php?id=131#body
