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Show Gam Wants fo Watchdog Public Lands Agencies Senator Jake Garn (R-Ut) y today announced his intention to support legislation designed design-ed to improve Congressional t .. oversight of Federal agencies charged w ith managing public lands. Garn said he is joining Senator Paul Laxalt (R-Nv) in sponsoring the bill which would also restrain regulatory agencies from making rules which are inconsistent with Congressional intent. The Senator said the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 provides Congress with some oversight of the regulatory agencies but that this new bill amends the Act to provide for a more comprehensive compre-hensive application of the legislative veto. "In passing the Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, Congress gave the Secretaries Secretar-ies of Interior and Agriculture broad authority to issue rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of the Act," said Senator Garn. "We should now take positive steps to make certain that power is not abused and that the public lands are kept available for the beneficial use of the majority of the people in whose states the lands are located." The legislation amends the Land Policy Act by requiring that no rule or regulation concerning the public lands, including their management, use and protection, will take effect for 90 days and then only if Congress has not adopted a Concurrent Resolution Resolu-tion of Disapproval. "Senator Laxalt and I feel that only through this proposed propos-ed method can we accomodate the many, and sometimes competing, interests of public land users," Senator Garn said. "In addition, the legislation legisla-tion would provide many groups of public land users who can't afford costly litigation litiga-tion or who do not have a close working relationship with the regulators, a safeguard against regulatory overkill. "I see this bill having two major beneficial effects. It will make the regulators more responsive to the needs and interests of Utahns and other Westerners whose states are largely owned by the Federal government. And, it will re store to the Congress the power to ensure that its , intent is not subjected to bureaucratic misinterpret a lion |