Washington briefs for March 22, 2001

Thursday, March 22, 2001 | 11:23 a.m.

Gibbons in debate over nuke workers

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., is stepping into a debate about which department should administer a program to compensate ailing former nuclear weapons workers. Gibbons is one of several lawmakers who plan to sign a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget, urging that the Department of Labor, which typically runs compensation programs, manage the nuclear workers program.

The letter was penned after Labor Secretary Elaine Chao requested that the Justice Department run the program. Gibbons and other lawmakers argue the Labor Department is a more logical choice, and the department lawmakers wanted the Labor Department in charge when they agreed to spend $60.4 million to set up the program.

Lawmakers last year agreed to begin paying nuclear workers for their illnesses, such as cancer, after the Department of Energy admitted that the work made laborers sick.

Nevada case used in Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court is using a Nevada case to examine the sovereign rights of state courts versus tribal courts.

Nevada lawyers, including two from the Nevada attorney general's office, were in the nation's capital Wednesday appearing before the nation's top court to argue a case that dates to 1991. It originated with Nevada game wardens with tribal search warrants who went on the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone reservation in Northern Nevada. On two occasions they seized big horn sheep heads from reservation resident Floyd Hicks, suspecting the animals may have been protected species. They were not, and the heads were returned.

But Hicks sued three game wardens and the director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife in tribal court, alleging violation of tribal law and federal civil rights. The state argued that tribal courts did not have jurisdiction to hear such civil claims. Nevada attorneys argued that the state sovereignty should override tribal jurisdiction. But two federal courts, U.S. District Court and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, disagreed and rejected the state's arguments. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take the case in October. The high court, as a matter of common practice, could take months to render a ruling.

Mining industry gains key victory

The Nevada mining industry won an important victory Wednesday in its battle to overturn Clinton administration environmental rules that hurt the industry. The Bureau of Land Management announced that on Friday it would suspend the rules at least for a 45-day comment period. Bush administration officials plan to review the new regulations and may permanently suspend the rules. Environmentalists say scrapping the rules would reverse an attempt to clean up messes left by the industry.

Nevada is the leading mining state in the nation. The industry has filed four lawsuits against the government, alleging the Clinton rules could cripple the industry. Among the new rules: Mining companies, not taxpayers, must pay more to clean up depleted mines and polluted ground water. Another rule would give the secretary of the Interior power to kill a proposed mine, even if a company had invested millions in developing the operation. That would have a chilling effect on exploration, industry officials said.

The rules were implemented on the final day of the Clinton administration and industry leaders promptly filed lawsuits.