Congress acts?

[balzaccom]

I thought it worth posting here. It's good news from a source that rarely delivers good news...

https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archi ... pact-utah/

[dave54]

Don't pop the champagne yet. Although the text and intent of the bill is encouraging, there is a long ways to go.

It passed the House and has been introduced into the Senate. No action has been taking there yet. It still must get Committee Hearings in the Senate, where parts of it may get rewritten and altered. Pork barrel amendments could get attached.
If it passes the Senate, the two versions of the bill will most likely be different. The two versions must be reconciled in a Conference Committee composed of both Senators and Representatives. This hybrid/compromise version could have provisions not found in the original versions, or sections could be dropped. After the text of the bill is agreed upon, two identical versions are sent to each chamber for voting again. By custom, the conference bill is passed on a straight up or down vote with no political wrangling. However, that is not guaranteed.

If both chambers pass the bill, it is sent to the President for his signature. Biden has already said he supports it, so that part is good news.
The bill becomes law.

However, that is just the beginning, not the end. The bill is basically enabling legislation, meaning it tells the agencies to write regulations and make policies to implement the intent of the law. The agencies have to do the analysis and write the regulations needed. What they end up with may be something less than the original authors of the bill intended. The new regulations are published in the Federal Register open to public review before they take effect. Another several months for public comment to be compiled. The regulations may or may not get modified based on the public comments.
The agency implements the requlations, and tell the regional and local offices to make it happen. The regional offices interpret the new regulations as best they can. Their interptetation and how they try to implement the regulations will vary from region to region, and may be quite different from the original intent or language of the bill. The local offices get direction from the regional offices, and try to figure out how to make it work at the ground level. Building any new infrastructure will require supplemental appropriations from Congress. Controlling the spiralling federal deficit is a major policy concern on both sides of the Congressional aisle right now. New trails and campgrounds are a pretty low priority for spending.

The end result takes a long time from when the bill was first introduced in Congress, and how it works on the ground may be quite different from the original vision of what was wanted by the author. At any step in the process some outside entity (activist group, industry lobbyist, private individual. et al) can file an appeal and the entire process is held up in the courts where anything can happen.

I am not trying to dash cold water on anyone's hopes and dreams, but many things must happen and many things can go wrong between now and seeing any changes at your local Park or Forest. Cautious optimism is appropriate, but hold off on the celebration.

[balzaccom]

You are absolutely right, Dave. Good post.

[rayfound]

The sooner you start things moving in a positive direction, the sooner you see results.

Which is to say - Yeah, nothing's close to done yet. By the same token, its one step closer.

[dave54]

More on how it works. If the bill does not pass the Senate by the end of the year, it dies. It will have to be reintroduced in 2025 to the new Congress. However, it had 51 cosponsors in the House, a 27D/24R bipartisan split. So it seems to have support.

I cannot find anything on the Senate side yet. It was passed to the Senate on 4/10, so it should have been assigned to a Committee by now.