CALLS NEEDED MON-TUES US Capitol Switchboard - (202) 224-3121 The anti-regulation crowd in Washington DC has launched an attack on the National Environmental Policy Act through its application on Corps projects - which would gut our ability to modify bad projects. This is among the worst anti-enviro attacks I've ever seen. Your calls are needed to House and Senate members. thanks, Mark Beorkrem [log in to unmask] Sierra Corps Reform Task Force The Water Resources Development Act of 2003 Radically Rewrites NEPA As Applied To The Corps Tell our House and Senate members: *We need More Review, Not Less, For Corps Projects *It Eliminates Federal Checks On Key Decisions Of this Scandal-Plagued Agency *Corps of Engineers projects have pushed many of the nation's rivers to the verge of collapse, and are a leading reason North America's freshwater species are disappearing five times faster than land-based species. *Section 2028 would harm the environment and further erode public confidence in the Corps' planning process. *Section 2028 of H.R. 2557, the Water Resources Development Act of 2003, would drastically decrease scrutiny of Corps of Engineers (Corps) projects, ignoring calls from the National Academy of Sciences and the Army Inspector General to increase such scrutiny. *Section 2028 would eliminate key procedural protections established decades ago by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and radically alter judicial review of Corps decisions. o It would drastically restrict existing federal and state agency reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) o It would radically alter the process for judicial review of Corps studies regardless of the legal basis for such challenges. *Delays in project construction are not caused by the NEPA process, but typically are the result of funding and staffing constraints. ELIMINATES REQUIREMENT TO ANALYZE RANGE OF REASONABLE ALTERNATIVES PROHIBITS INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS BY OTHER AGENCIES PROHIBITS ANALYSIS OF SIGNIFICANT NEW INFORMATION RADICALLY ALTERS JUDICIAL REVIEW PROCESS IMPOSES ARBITRARY AND UNREASONABLE TIME LIMIT ON LEGAL CHALLENGES The following organizations support comprehensive reform of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to improve its environmental and economic decision-making. One such necessary reform is the need to increase review of Corps studies by requiring independent review of studies for costly or controversial projects. American Rivers National Audubon Society Defenders of Wildlife National Environmental Trust Earthjustice National Wildlife Federation Environmental Defense Natural Resources Defense Council Friends of the Earth The Ocean Conservancy League of Conservation Voters Sierra Club Mississippi River Basin Alliance The Wilderness Society - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp