Herbert says he's optimistic after meeting with President Trump


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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert met with President Donald Trump and described a sense of optimism Tuesday based on the president's desire to let states have a greater role in their own destiny.

That path of autonomy may include more flexibility for states when it comes to health care reform by dialing back the Affordable Care Act, or boil down to an elimination of federal rules that governors feel unnecessarily tether states' ability to govern.

"I think everybody felt a sense of optimism that comes with a new administration, new beginnings and new opportunities," Herbert said Tuesday in a conference call with media.

"Clearly the administration has set the tone by saying we value governors, we value the states and we want your input," he said.

The tempest of Bears Ears National Monument did not surface in Monday's conversations with Trump or Vice President Mike Pence.

"That did not come up. That is a Utah specific issue," Herbert said.

The governor said he has met with Interior secretary nominee Ryan Zinke and invited him to visit the Bears Ears region as the agency makes decisions over land management approaches in San Juan County.

Both sides in the heated monument debate have extended those invitations to Zinke who could be confirmed by the Senate Wednesday.

Herbert said discussions that swirled around health care reform made it clear that governors prioritize changes that speak to sustainability, flexibility and fairness.

"The one-size-fits-all mentality everyone agrees is not the way to go," he said. "Fairness is the goal."

Herbert said he was especially encouraged by the new president's willingness to roll back regulations imposed on states that are costly, burdensome and prolong action taken by the federal government.

When it takes eight or nine years as opposed to a few months for a federal agency to provide a regulatory answer, Herbert said that delay is ridiculous.

Reform of federal rules, he added, is "way, way overdue," noting Utah has eliminated several hundred through its own review process.

On Tuesday, coincidentally, Trump signed an executive order that will put in the necessary steps to unravel the controversial Waters of the United States rule issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency more than a year ago.

Utah is one of 27 states across the country involved in four different lawsuits challenging the federal government's authority on issuing the clean water rule.

Critics complained that the regulation trampled on state authority and is outside the authority of the Clean Water Act.

"This rule represents Washington regulatory bureaucracy at its worst," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, reacting in praise to Trump's actions.

Hatch said the rule threatened to put small ponds and ditches under the control of the federal government.

Environmental groups and conservation organizations, however, praised the rule for protecting U.S. waters and charged that Trump's actions set back necessary protections.

"Today’s order, if implemented, would allow more pollution in the drinking water sources of more than one-third of all Americans and would roll back protections for many of America’s streams and wetlands — including seasonal wetlands that are home to more than half of North America’s migratory waterfowl," said Collin O'Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.

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Amy Joi O'Donoghue

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