Issa Introduces Legislation to Prevent Future Fires by Slashing ‘Green Tape’ of Environmental Regulations

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48), introduced the Green Tape Elimination Act (GTEA), unprecedented reform legislation that exempts all hazardous fuel reduction activities on federal lands from environmental regulations for 10 years. This will provide a decade for firefighters to clear brush, cut shrubs, prescribe control burns, and utilize other strategies to stop the fires we know will occur in the future.

"For years, environmental rules have become regulatory ‘green tape’ — locking in dangerous conditions and contradicting common sense reforms," said Rep. Issa. “That’s why this is no time for tinkering around the edges. We can’t wait for the next deadly disaster."

Specifically, the GTEA exempts for 10 years any wildfire fuel mitigation activities – like the removal of vegetative material susceptible to burning, firebreaks, and prescribed fires – on all federal lands from six major federal environmental regulations: 

1.      The National Environmental Policy Act 

2.      The Endangered Species Act 

3.      The National Historic Preservation Act 

4.      The Clean Air Act 

5.      The Migratory Bird Treaty Act 

6.      The Migratory Bird Conservation Act 

Earlier today, the Green Tape Elimination Act was featured in an exclusive by Fox News.

Darrell Issa is the Representative of California’s 48th Congressional District, which encompasses the central and eastern parts of San Diego County and a portion of Riverside County, including the communities of Fallbrook, Valley Center, Ramona, Escondido, Santee, Lakeside, Poway, Temecula, Murrieta, and the mountain and desert areas of the San Diego-Imperial County line. Issa served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2011-2015.

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