On the chance that Gov. George W. Bush may become president next January, the Clinton administration is burning the midnight oil to complete a bundle of new regulations backed by environmentalists and other liberal groups and opposed by business interests. At the U.S. EPA alone, 67 regulatory decisions are on tap, including ones relating to pollution from diesel engines, mercury emissions from power plants, and pesticide use. The U.S. Forest Service is preparing its final rule on banning road-building in pristine forestland, and the U.S. Agriculture Department will announce final rules for national organic standards. Dan Weiss, political director of the Sierra Club, said, “If they were to accomplish all their goals, it would cement Clinton’s legacy as one of the nation’s greatest environmental presidents.”
