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###