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ByJohnFlesher The Associated Press TRAVERSE CITY, MICH. A federal appeals court or- dered the government Mon- day to rewrite its regula- tions on ballast water dis- charges from ships, one of the leading culprits in the spread of invasive species across U.S. waterways. Environmental groups contended in a lawsuit that an industry-wide permit issued by the U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency two years ago wasn't tough enough to prevent vessels from introducing addi- tional harmful organisms such as zebra and quagga mussels, which have caused heavy economic and ecolog- ical damage in the Great Lakes and spread as far as the West Coast. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided mostly with the environ- mentalists, saying the EPA erred in numerous ways, in- cluding settling for interna- tional limits on live organ- isms in ballast water when technology was available to meet tougher standards. The court also faulted the agencyforfailingtoconsider onshore treatment of ballast water, exempting vessels built before 2009 that oper- ate only in the Great Lakes from the discharge limits, and requiring inadequate monitoring of discarded wa- ter to make sure it complies with the rules. "This decision is welcome news for the millions of families, anglers, hunters, paddlers, beach-goers, and business owners, who have borne the brunt of damages from aquatic invasive spe- cies for far too long," said Marc Smith, policy direc- tor for the National Wild- life Federation, one of the groups that had sued. INVASIVE SPECIES Court orders EPA to revise dump regs By Erica Werner The Associated Press WASHINGTON Speaker John Boehner on Monday scheduled the House elec- tion to replace him for Oct. 29 and delayed votes for lower-level posts until after that — a move widely seen as benefiting his preferred successor, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. House Republicans, reel- ing and divided in the af- termath of Boehner's res- ignation last month, had planned to vote Thurs- day by secret ballot for a new leadership team. But a number of members wanted more time to weigh their options and pursue rule changes. Under the new plan, Thursday's vote will only be on the GOP's nominee for speaker, followed by a floor vote in the full House the same day. It will then be up to the new speaker to set an elec- tions date for lower-level GOP posts from major- ity leader on down. The speaker is the only job in the House that's voted on by members of both par- ties in open session; the other jobs are selected in- ternally by the party cau- cuses. "This new process will ensure House Republicans have a strong, unified team to lead our conference and focus on the American peo- ple's priorities," Boehner said in a statement. But the change may also help McCarthy, who is working to lock up sup- port to become speaker but facing an unexpected challenge from Utah Re- publican Rep. Jason Chaf- fetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. McCarthy is the heavy fa- vorite to prevail in the se- cret-ballot election Thurs- day, but the outcome on the floor is less certain because of potential opposition from the same 30-plus hard-line conservatives who pushed Boehner out. The new process could allow McCarthy to lock up the nomination for speaker and give conservatives more time to potentially rally around one of their own for one of the lesser jobs. Boehner's announcement on the timing of the elec- tions came amid ongoing turmoil in the House GOP and as Chaffetz presented himself as a new face who can unite the House. "If we don't inject new blood into the leadership team, our constituents are going to be irate at best," Chaffetz told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday. CONGRESS Boehner: Speaker vote set for Oct. 29 By Paul Wiseman and Christopher S. Rugaber The Associated Press WASHINGTON The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries have agreed to an ambitious and con- tentious trade pact that cuts trade barriers, sets labor and environmental standards and protects multinational corpora- tions' intellectual property. The agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership was reached Monday after marathon negotiating ses- sions in Atlanta through the weekend. The road ahead may be even tougher: The agree- ment must get through a skeptical U.S. Congress. The TPP is designed to encourage trade between the United States, Austra- lia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Sin- gapore and Vietnam. To- gether, the countries ac- count for 40 percent of world economic output. "We think it helps de- fine the rules of the road for the Asia-Pacific re- gion," said U.S. Trade Rep. Michael Froman. Japanese Prime Minis- ter Shinzo Abe welcomed the basic agreement as "a farsighted policy for all participating countries that share the values and try to build a free and fair economic zone." The White House says the agreement will elim- inate tariffs on all made- in-America manufactured goods exported to TPP countries. "This partnership lev- els the playing field for our farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers by eliminat- ing more than 18,000 taxes that various countries put on our products," Presi- dent Barack Obama said in astatement."Itincludesthe strongest commitments on labor and the environment of any trade agreement in history, and those commit- ments are enforceable, un- like in past agreements." For Obama, the trade deal is a major victory on a centerpiece of his inter- national agenda. Obama has pursued the pact against the objections of many lawmakers in his own Democratic Party and instead forged rare consen- sus with Republicans. He's cast the agreement as good for Americans workers and crucial to countering China and expanding U.S. influ- ence in the Asia-Pacific, a fast-growing region he says should be a bigger focus of the nation's foreign policy. The president has to wait 90 days before sign- ing the pact, and only then will Congress begin the process of voting on it. As a result, a vote on the TPP likely will not happen until well into 2016, where it is likely to get ensnarled in the politics of a presiden- tial election year. Congress can only give the deal an up-or-down vote. It can't amend the agreement. Many of the tariff reduc- tions and other changes will be phased in over sev- eral years, so benefits to the U.S. economy could take time to materialize. Peter Petri, a profes- sor of international fi- nance at Brandeis Univer- sity, says he doesn't expect the deal to lead to any U.S. job gains. But he forecasts it will boost U.S. incomes by $77 billion a year, or 0.4 percent, by 2025, mostly by creating export-oriented jobs that will pay more, even as other jobs are lost. ECONOMIC OUTPUT US, Pacific Rim countries reach trade deal PABLOMARTINEZMONSIVAIS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE President Barack Obama, center, speaks during his meeting with leaders of the Trans- Pacific Partnership countries, in Beijing. By Robert Burns The Associated Press WASHINGTON Afghan forces who reported be- ing under Taliban fire re- quested the U.S. airstrike that killed 22 people at a medical clinic in northern Afghanistan over the week- end, the top commander of American and coalition forces in Afghanistan said Monday, correcting an ini- tial U.S. statement that the strike had been launched because U.S. forces were threatened. The strike wasn't sought by U.S. forces, Gen. John F. Campbell said at a hastily arranged Pentagon news conference. "We have now learned thatonOct.3,Afghanforces advised that they were tak- ing fire from enemy po- sitions and asked for air support from U.S. forces," Campbellsaid."Anairstrike wasthencalledtoeliminate the Taliban threat and sev- eral civilians were acciden- tally struck. This is differ- ent from the initial reports, which indicated that U.S. forces were threatened and that the airstrike was called on their behalf." The clinic was operated by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders. The attack killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens more, setting the hospital on fire. In response to Camp- bell's remarks, the organi- zation's general director, Christopher Stokes, said the U.S. had admitted that it attacked the facility. "The U.S. military re- mains responsible for the targets it hits, even though it is part of a coalition," Stokes said. "There can be no justification for this hor- rible attack. With such con- stant discrepancies in the U.S. and Afghan accounts of what happened, the need for a full transparent inde- pendent investigation is ever more critical." On Saturday, Afghan of- ficials said Taliban fighters were in the hospital at the time of the airstrike, but that is in dispute. On Sunday, NATO, un- der whose umbrella the U.S.-led coalition oper- ates in Afghanistan, is- sued a statement saying U.S. forces had conducted an airstrike against "insur- gents who were directly fir- ing upon U.S. service mem- bers" who were advising Afghan forces in Kunduz. The statement also said NATO was undertaking a preliminary assessment of the incident by a multi- national "casualty assess- ment team," and that it would produce initial re- sults "in a matter of days." The U.S. military is do- ing its own standard inves- tigation under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Campbell's revised ac- count does not clarify whether the clinic was tar- geted in error or whether U.S. military personnel fol- lowed procedure. They are required to verify that the target of the requested air- strike is valid before firing. Asked about those proce- dures, Campbell said he would not discuss the rules of engagement under which U.S. forces operate. CORRECTING INITIAL STATEMENT Commander: Afghans requested US airstrike in Kunduz RED BLUFF OUTDOOR POWER 490 Antelope Blvd. 527.5741 ORLAND SAW & MOWER 235 E. Walker St. 865.8800 QUALITY SAW & MOWER 2901 Douglas St. Anderson 365.8700 All prices plus sales tax, license fees, doc fees, any finance charge, any dealer preparation charge, any emission charge, any documentation preparation charge, any smog fees and any tire fees. all vehicles subject to prior sale & credit approval. 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