For more than two decades, political leaders taking a balanced outlook on conservation, economic activity, and development have been battling with federal agencies and hardline environmentalists over the ban.
As the Pacific Legal Foundation sees it, the ban "Went on the books illegally," since it has not been passed by Congress or a state legislature, and since Congress cannot delegate its law-making function to any federal agency.
Notably, on his first day in office, Biden signed Executive Order 13985, "Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government." It highlighted the high cost of systemic racism and intractable poverty and mandated that federal agencies work toward equitable programs benefiting underserved rural and tribal communities, besides those of color and those suffering persistent poverty.
With Executive Order 14057 on "Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability," he vowed to create a market for "Environmentally sustainable alternatives in fuels" and require federal agencies to procure "100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2030.".
U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, an Alaska House Democrat who views the regulations as federal overreach, says,.
"The Roadless Rule should never have applied to the Tongass, and the Biden administration's decision to reinstate it is federal paternalism at its worst. With this decision, the Biden administration is turning the Tongass into a political football, where access changes with each new President and creates whiplash for those who might want to invest or build in Southeast Alaska."
In 2024, the Supreme Court is expected to decide on the extent of the Chevron deference doctrine, an administrative law principle compelling federal courts to defer to a federal agency's interpretation of a statute that Congress delegated the agency to administer.
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