For Immediate Release:
November 10, 2005

Contact:
Annie Strickler, (202) 675-2384
David Willett, (202) 675-6698

         Threatened Environmental Law Works, Sierra Club Testifies
  House Task Force Considering Weakening NEPA; Sierra Club Testimony Will
                  Highlight Many Benefits of Landmark Law

Washington, D.C. - The Congressional NEPA Task Force brought its
controversial series of hearings on the National Environmental Policy Act
to Capitol Hill today to hear testimonies from varied interests as to
whether to weaken the bedrock protection for safe and healthy communities.
Today's hearing was to focus specifically on NEPA litigation, including
lawsuits on levees and grazing. The Task Force, which was formed by House
Resources Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA), previously held field hearings in
Spokane, WA; Lakeside, AZ; Rio Rancho, NM; Nagodoches, TX; and Norfolk, VA.
It is scheduled to complete the hearings next Thursday in D.C. with a
report expected in the coming weeks.

"The National Environmental Policy Act is one of America's great success
stories," said Debbie Sease, Sierra Club Legislative Director, who
testified at today's hearing. "It is a law that when properly implemented
saves time and money in the long run by reducing controversy, building
consensus, and ensuring that a project is done right the first time."

The 35-year old National Environmental Policy Act, signed into law by
President Nixon, safeguards our nation's air, water, and lands by requiring
federal agencies to provide an assessment of the environmental impact of
and alternatives to any major federal action that could significantly
affect the quality of the environment.  However, there are some in Congress
who want to curtail NEPA's environmental review process and public
participation in the name of speeding up potentially damaging projects.

"There is no need to overhaul NEPA because it works. It protects and
empowers the public," said Sease. "Limiting public involvement and
weakening environmental review won't avoid controversy or improve projects.
It will only weaken our participatory democracy."

The field hearings themselves invited controversy when several of the
hearing venues were changed at the last minute, moving from centrally
located population centers to more isolated communities, in some cases even
changing from weekend to weekday schedules.  In some cases proponents of
NEPA were denied an opportunity to offer testimony.  For example, the third
hearing on July 23rd intended to cover the role of NEPA in the southern
states, was moved from Houston, Texas (population 1,953,000) to the small
east Texas town of Nacogdoches (population 30,000).  Eight of the 10
witnesses represented mining and timber extractive industries.  Local
Sierra Club members asked to testify at the hearing but were turned down.
Sierra Club representatives testified at the Norfolk, Virginia, hearing and
today in Washington, D.C.

"NEPA is based on that lesson we all learned as kids - 'look before you
leap," said Sease. "It's just common sense to think ahead about the
consequences of the actions we take."

For more information on NEPA's numerous success stories and Sierra Club's
congressional testimony on NEPA, please visit: www.sierraclub.org/nepa

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