Two members of Congress plan to investigate the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s involvement in the mediation of an environmental lawsuit over management of the four lower Snake River dams.

In a Nov. 8 letter to to CEQ chair Brenda Mallory, Reps. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said the Biden administration’s involvement in settlement negotiations appears “designed to favor special interests and avoid transparency” during federal mediation in Snake River dam litigation.

Bentz is chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. Massie is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform and Antitrust.

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A coalition of environmental and fishing groups in 2020 sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration over their dam operations plan.

The federal government and plaintiffs in the lawsuit say they have developed a “package of actions and commitments” that they hope to present in court by Dec. 15.

“…CEQ has allegedly taken advantage of and guided settlement discussions to favor certain parties and views at the exclusion of others,” Bentz and Massie wrote in the letter.

Agricultural and electric utility stakeholders that are intervenor defendants in the litigation say they have been left out of the process.

Depending on the terms of the lawsuit settlement, “CEQ’s potentially unlawful conduct could lead to lopsided outcomes that result in higher energy costs for the American people,” Bentz and Massie said.

“CEQ’s advocacy behind closed doors also raises transparency and process concerns similar to those that arise when nonprofit plaintiffs and agencies use sue-and-settle tactics,” the letter states. 

By Nov. 22, they ask the council to provide information from Jan. 21, 2021, to the present, including:

• All documents and communication referring or relating to CEQ’s role, function or activity in mediation and settlement discussions.

• All documents and communication referring or relating to which parties could take part in any particular settlement discussions or meetings, including any referring to or relating to any of the intervenor defendants.

• All documents and communications CEQ provided or sent to any participant in mediation and settlement discussions. 

“The Council on Environmental Quality appears to have dramatically overstepped its authority by interfering in ongoing litigation concerning operation of the Snake River Dams,” Bentz said in a press release. “The CEQ is supposed to act as an advisory board to federal agencies concerning process and not policy. Instead, it has become the environmental arm of the Biden administration. This interference is a misuse of the CEQ’s time and resources, extending far beyond its original mandate.”