Western Republicans are urging House leaders to allow floor debate on the Interior Department and U.S. EPA fiscal 2013 spending bill, arguing they have important provisions they'd like to add.

In a letter yesterday to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), members from the Congressional Western Caucus said only four of their members were given a chance to amend the agencies' spending bill when it was marked up before the Appropriations Committee.

"Many of us live in districts that are disproportionately controlled by the Department of the Interior, and all of us have small businesses and job creators located in our districts that are hindered by an overzealous EPA," said the letter signed by 22 lawmakers.

The committee late last month passed the $28 billion bill, which includes a bevy of policy riders halting agency efforts to regulate greenhouse gases, mining waste and waterways, among many other issues (Greenwire, June 28).

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), chairman of the subcommittee that wrote the bill, has lobbied his Republican colleagues to exercise restraint on adding amendments (E&ENews PM, Jan. 20).

While they recognized the limited floor time, caucus members cited numerous issues involving conservation, energy, forestry, mining, environmental regulations and recreation that are important to their districts.

"The great majority of us have only one opportunity to represent our constituents on this very important bill: on the floor of the House," they wrote.

Simpson earlier this summer said he doubted the House would find time to consider the bill before the August recess.

Barring floor debate, the bill -- which is the product of a House budget plan that flouts a bicameral spending agreement reached nearly a year ago -- will be negotiated directly with the Senate. Closed-door negotiations among staff members of both chambers resulted in the elimination of the vast majority of House riders in the fiscal 2012 omnibus spending bill.