Judge weighs Bush's reversal of road ban

[question everything]

Judge weighs Bush's reversal of road ban

August 2, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO – The Bush administration had the right to overturn a ban on road construction in untouched parts of national forests, but it may have needed to weigh possible environmental effects at the same time, a federal judge said yesterday.

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Laporte said the Forest Service appeared to be “on solid ground” last year when it reversed a Clinton administration rule banning new roads on nearly a third of federal forests.

But she questioned whether the agency violated federal law by skipping environmental studies – the heart of two lawsuits brought by 20 environmental groups and the states of California, Oregon, New Mexico and Washington. The cases have since been consolidated, and all parties presented arguments yesterday.

Laporte said she did not know when she would issue a final decision.

Associated Press

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