The push to establish an Imperial Presidency kicked into overdrive when Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) introduced a bill that would give the Environmental Protection Agency the power to waive or weaken the law for matters related to Hurricane Katrina.

Inhofe introduced the bill on Sept. 15, just one day after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced that he was exercising the power granted by the REAL ID Act to waive all laws in order to expedite construction of border fencing near San Diego.

Inhofe's bill, S. 1711, would give EPA the power to waive or modify a wide range of laws and regulations when the EPA administrator determines that doing so "is necessary to respond, in a timely and effective manner, to a situation or damage relating to Hurricane Katrina." EPA must also determine that the waiver or modification "is in the public interest, taking into account" both the emergency conditions of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the waiver's potential "consequence[s] to public health or the environment."

The extent of the proposed waiver authority is enormous. EPA would be granted the power to waive not only laws and regulations under its jurisdiction but also any law or regulation "that applies to any project or activity carried out" by EPA. If, for example, EPA is supervising cleanup projects that require the use of private trucking companies, EPA could exercise this proposed new power to waive the regulations setting the maximum number of hours that those companies can force their drivers to work. EPA could also apply this power to waive or weaken workplace safety and health regulations intended to protect the workers involved in testing environmental conditions and conducting cleanup efforts. For that matter, it could waive anti-discrimination laws and regulations with which the agency must comply.

The bill would establish a default time limit of 120 days for the duration of any waivers, but EPA would be able to extend the waivers for an additional 18 months.

The bill might even create a shield from accountability for long-term effects of waiver decisions. Section a(2)(C) of the bill adds that "[a]ny effect of a waiver of modification... shall be considered to be in accordance with the requirements of the waiver or modification, regardless of whether the effect occurs during the effective period." If EPA immunizes private contractors from liability during the post-Katrina recovery, this clause could potentially extend that immunity so far into the future that it would even bar cancer cases arising years after workplace exposures to toxins in the Katrina-created wastes.

The bill would also mandate biweekly reporting of EPA's exercise of the waiver power.

Inhofe's bill may not be the only effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to establish an Imperial Presidency. A bill for Katrina-related relief introduced by Louisiana's senators (S.1766 § 502) would have allowed private companies to apply for permits that would automatically certify them as in compliance with all federal law and regulation, regardless of their actual compliance or noncompliance. Given the possibility that other Katrina-related bills will give the Bush administration the power to ignore the law, the Natural Resources Defense Council has established an online action center to generate letters to Congress opposing any further waivers.