. >> dave hawkins' power at this moment is a real concern to henry nichols.ould cost his clients $90 million. a stricter implementation could force them to spend as much as $3 billion. laws, way congress rights they are not models of clarity. there are a spectrum of interpretations. you want to look at the facts and pick the one that makes the most sense. >> what the procedural posture will be in the rebuttal comments? >> the sad part is that it is easier to identify the needs of the program then it is to implement them. >> in their stand against hawkins, the upcoming months will bring intense work for nichols and his staff. to modify the regulation, he will form alliances with sympathetic agencies and members of congress. for the court battles he will create, to delay or even kill the rule, he must constantly sift through all available evidence. to the utilities, more regulation could mean delays in constructing new facilities, new -- huge additional costs, and a climate of uncertainty caused by changing rules. >> the regulations in question would affect the

dave hawkins, he feels, is overstepping his authority.e regulators is to implement the laws congress adopts and not create laws. i think the agency created laws. >> this seems to be pretty straightforward. >> go back to the court. >> visibility? >> yeah. >> three months before the final deadline, the public comment period officially ends. in addition to the massive legal brief are the written comments of 382 others. arguments of regulated industries, the white house, key members of congress, and letter-writing campaigns of opposing environmental groups. by day's end, a stack of paper seven feet high will be under lock and key. with the end of the public comment period, the people have now spoken. a vaguely worded law and imperfect scientific information. the utilities industry, fearful that regulation will hamper energy development and increase cost, takes advantage of these weak points. henry nickel has mounted an affected battle. his efforts bear fruit. working through a coalition of legislators, sympathetic federal agencies and even a

if dave hawkins once to go forward, that is a policy decision that has to be made. >> we have substantial divided as you might expect. they look at the comments and they believe there is some risk as far as a correction. announcer: despite the furs of -- staff, hawkins feels that staff, the fears of his vistas arentegral important. he decides to go ahead. reince you have to proceed from the act that comes to pass. we have to make sure we can defend it will we get to the ultimate lawsuit. we all expect there will be a lawsuit. integral thisn on gives thestas ammunition needed. there is an added reason for halting. a court delay now would grant time for the election of a new president, one more favorable to his cause. go, barbaraks to brown makes final recommendations. for her, each turn of phrase has attention for protecting or endangering the parks. integral vista is the scene of a landmark. that is to limiting. announcer: making contact with the legal counterpart at epa. henry. is >> what is up? what if you heard? rights we have not heard anything so i thought i would call you. >> the ag