Saturday, February 9, 2019

Is NEPA Dead?




                                              Comments due by February 16, 2019


 Since 1970, the public has had a voice in major federal infrastructure projects. But the landmark environmental law that gives us that right is having its teeth pulled. The National Environmental Policy Act is the nation's oldest environmental law, widely known as the Magna Carta of green legislation. A blueprint for minimizing environmental impacts while ensuring compliance with federal laws like the Endangered Species Act, NEPA compels federal agencies to consider potential consequences of any "major" project they take on.
When President Richard Nixon signed NEPA into law in 1970, he said it would help "America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its air, its waters, and our living environment." NEPA was forged in response to decades of preventable environmental disasters: highway growth that bulldozed entire neighborhoods in the 1950s, an oil spill in California that came from offshore drilling, and the infamous Cuyahoga River fire, among others. There are few hard statistics on the efficiency of NEPA, but the law has demonstrably improved countless infrastructure projects, saving trees, wetlands, and— yes—money throughout the United States for the last 50 years. Now, of course, the Trump administration is trying to gut the law. At six pages and one line, the law isn't long or complex; it serves more as an ingredient list than as a full recipe. It mostly just orders federal agencies to find, minimize, and report impacts of federal projects. It also establishes the Council on Environmental Quality, a group that's central in President Donald Trump's plan to defang the law. Under the purview of the White House, the CEQ is NEPA's executive operative, regulating how NEPA is implemented by and between federal agencies. Since the CEQ issued its regulation on NEPA compliance in 1978, the council has only made two amendments to its text—once to change its mailing address, and once to eliminate "worst-case" analysis from the review process (the latter change happened under President Ronald Reagan, though the withdrawal of language was apolitical, more due to confusing wording in the process that made it difficult to implement than to anything else). Over the past year, the CEQ, under the guidance of the Trump administration, has been working not just to amend NEPA, but to rewrite it altogether. As long as Trump has been president, the top spot at the CEQ has been vacant—until three weeks ago, when the Senate confirmed Mary Neumayr as chairwoman of the council. (Absent of an official chair, Neumayr had already been in the top spot at the CEQ since March of 2017.) Though her views on climate are not as extreme as those of the previous nominee—Neumayr at least says she believes in climate change—she is squarely conservative in her views on government regulation. As ThinkProgress points out, Neumayr once wrote a paper for the conservative Federalist Society criticizing government regulations, including environmental laws, for their alleged "criminalization" of corporate activity. Having served in various energy and environmental federal counsel positions spanning the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies, she looks a lot like an establishment conservative. Most important, she has pledged to carry out the agenda of the Trump administration. As chief of staff at the CEQ, Neumayr had already begun to do so. In 2017, she oversaw the withdrawal of Obama-era guidance requiring agencies to include greenhouse gases and climate change in their NEPA reviews. In June of last year, the CEQ put out a notice that it would be amending NEPA, and opened the rule for public comment. The notice poses 20 questions to the public, asking generally about whether parts of NEPA could be "updated" or "clarified," and whether the process could be made more "timely" or "efficient." While the CEQ hasn't put out any legislation yet, the tenor and thrust of these questions suggest that Trump's goal is to slash NEPA by restricting its usage and narrowing its purview. "There are two strands of attack on NEPA," says Pat Gallagher, legal director at the Sierra Club.* "What they're trying to do via regulation [is] to weaken the actual triggers for when they have to act on NEPA." Part of that strategy requires massaging the definition of what constitutes a "major federal project," which refers to projects big enough to warrant an environmental review in the first place, and expanding the list of "categorical exclusions," a list of actions that an agency may take that have been predetermined not to warrant a NEPA review.
 As an example, Gallagher says that an agency may stipulate that up to 10,000 acres of post-fire logging would be categorically excluded from undergoing an environmental review. "And that's a big problem. They're basically going to try to take big whole classes of actions and just remove them from NEPA," he says. That's not just a regulatory problem; it's a problem for democracy as well. A crucial part of NEPA is its requirement that every project undergoing the environmental review process be open to public comment. Through this mechanism, communities can drastically change the form of a project through the public comment process: They can suggest alternatives that may not only be beneficial to their local environment, but also make a project cheaper and more efficient. Public comment on a highway project in Colorado, for instance, helped minimize tree removal and dust due to construction, while adding bike lanes. The community-sourced alternative to the highway project ended up costing less than the original plan. Exempting entire categories of projects from NEPA, then, would "gut the statute. It removes the public from any review," Gallagher laments. The other strand of attack on NEPA is to place arbitrary restrictions on how long the environmental review process can take. Right now, a typical review will take three to five years; Trump's goal is to cut it to two years. He also wants to shorten the statute of limitations for claims drastically, from six years to 150 days. Ironically, this approach could make the review process even longer. "My prediction about that strand is that it will result in more litigation and more successes by the [non-governmental organization] community," Gallagher says, "because haste makes waste." As for trying to shorten the statute of limitations, Gallagher adds, "we're not that stupid. We know about statutes of limitations, so if we see a bad NEPA document, and we feel like it's grounds for litigation, we're going to pursue it." Is there a way to shorten the NEPA's often lengthy review process without sacrificing basic environmental protections? California's version of NEPA, the California Environmental Quality Act, despite being more stringent, has a one-year time limit on its review process. A NEPA review typically takes longer than a CEQA review, but it's possible to put meaningful time limits on NEPA, and stick to them ( for the most part). Still, the only way to do so would be to thoroughly examine the entire process, case by case, combing for patterns in studies and statistics. Even then, some massive projects like the Keystone XL pipeline and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may still end up taking many years to review. The expansive scope of such projects lays out miles of hurdles, including "funding issues, engineering requirements, changes in agency priorities, delays in obtaining non-federal approvals, or community opposition to the project," according to a Government Accountability Office report. It takes competent, good-faith agency leadership to address issues as deep-rooted as these. Perhaps Neumayr, the longtime bureaucrat, could be that leader. But if she takes Trump's NEPA-gutting guidelines at face value and no further, it's not likely. In 2009, then-CEQ chair Nancy Sutley was hopeful that NEPA could be streamlined without sapping its ability to protect communities and their environments. She asked agency leaders to take a critical look at how NEPA fit into their operations, per E&E News, with the stipulation that "a scalpel is probably better than a bulldozer to deal with NEPA." Surely, after 50 years of the law, we have the tools to do this better. 

15 comments:

  1. I’ve never heard about The National Environmental Policy Act before, but after learning that the act restrains governmental companies to contemplate probable consequences of any significant project they take on, I can see the advantages and disadvantages of this act instantaneously. NEPA is a law that encourages businesses to refrain from projects that can be damaging to the environment, which brings along the advantages of our planet, health, and so forth. Nevertheless, the disadvantage is that some businesses have relied on manufacturing that is possibly damaging. Or, can refrain investment due to the requirements of permits or the duration period for acceptance. If these businesses could potentially be bringing in millions of dollars to the economy, we could be suffering a great loss. Another possible consequence I can think of, fines for not following the act. Sometimes these violations may be critical. An industry that comes to mind is the coal industry. If the environmental regulations interfere with the amount of coal being produced, the supply goes down, which would make prices rise. This will lead to people spending more money on gas, and having less money for other goods and services.
    Overall, I think Trump’s plan to change this law is not a great idea. The United States getting rid of one of the oldest environmental laws would call for a disaster. This will let any business build whatever they desire, without the thought of how it could damage our environment. For example, if the government builds some sort of harmful lot near a community, folks will want to relocate. Prices in this area will drop, and no one will want to live or buy land in this area. Not only that, but our environment will get worse. NEPA protects communities and our health. The goal of this act is to decrease damage to this environment, which has been diminished by a great amount in recent years. So, I’d say this act is very useful and needs to be around.
    -Vianna Konoplin

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also have never heard of the NEPA law before, but I certainly do think it's necessary to have. In my opinion I believe Trump's plan to try to "gut" NEPA would be foolish. While he and his administration may not take climate change seriously, the majority of people do. Gutting NEPA would only further damage to the environment of the United States. While I believe this, I'm also not trying to say that the law can't be made more efficient. To illustrate what I mean, the example of California's version of NEPA, the California Environmental Quality Act seems to be much less length but just as effective. I personally don't believe that the shortening of the length of the review process could be very beneficial. However shortening the statute of limitations would be foolhardy. In addition to this, the idea of cutting out the public is absurd. In the case of what happened in Colorado, the public's suggestions helped the project tremendously, and made it more efficient

    --Matt Micele

    ReplyDelete
  3. Like my classmates who commented before me, I had never heard of the National Environmental Policy Act. This post coincides with my previous comment on last week's post. President Trump's push to change these policies will not help the environment and in the long-term will hurt the economy. Bulldozing through environmental regulations to promote projects that will sneakily hurt out environment is unethical and irresponsible. President Nixon had the right idea as he worked to reduce harmful activities in the United States and work to repair our ecosystem. Trump's actions is a step back for efficiency and our environment. I do believe that the government needs to make room for feedback from the public to aid in reparations.

    ReplyDelete
  4. There has always been more governmnetal decesions favoring for the benefit immediate monetary economy growth. Rather than admit to themselves that the environement is the begenning to all commerce and economy. The NEPA was only passed by Nixon becuase of the idea of monetary benefit i certainly do not view president Nixon as an enviromentalist. However NEPA is mostt certainly a neccesity however it is no suprise that it is perhaps the most vague and appears to be un honorabel to follow in legislature becasue of immediate monetary interest of politicians. I believe to stop the lashing at laws that protect the environemnt we must convience people of their economic benefits.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This act, among others, seems as though it is extremely important to America and our future as a country. It's almost disturbing to think that we can hold on so dearly to an idea that we don't have a problem even though that same problem is slowly manifesting itself around us. People who believe that money is more important than our earth and how long we stay on it will certainly have a problem with this act because it prevents them from making them more of that money. I know this is a bit harsh but if steps can be taken in order to prevent future expenses, whether that be money or even communities and lives, there seems to me to be no price on that. Especially with the debt our country is in, one would think there might be some urgency to save and wisely spend money. Also, removing the public involvement of this act seems closedminded because there is potential to be more efficient and serve the community while also saving money in the process. That is barely even a price to pay to allow people with genuinely productive ideas to make a change. Then again there is the opposing force with the argument that they do not benefit from any of these procedures that come from NEPA. So really it’s all relative I suppose but what can’t be ignored is the threat against our environment that, at the end of the day, is us.

    - Lucy Frezza

    ReplyDelete
  6. Before reading this blogpost I have never heard of The National Environmental Policy Act. However, now I think it is completely needed. The National Environmental Policy Act is a law that inspires businesses to refrain from projects that can possibly be harmful to our environment. Which can potentially bring along the advantages of our health and planet. The disadvantage is that several businesses have relied on manufacturing that is possibly damaging. I think Trump’s idea to change this law is not good one. If The United States gets rid of one of the oldest environmental laws it would call for a harm. This will result for any business to build whatever they desire, without them thinking  of how it could damage the environment. If the government decided to build some sort of harmful lot near a community filled with residents, these residents will decide to relocate. Prices in this area will drop dramatically and no one will want to live in the area. This will also worsen our environment. The National Environmental Policy Act protects our health and our communities. The main purpose of this act is to decrease damage to the environment, which has been reduced in recent years.

    ⁃Valerie Volovik

    ReplyDelete
  7. This week’s post is very discouraging. As the article states, The NEPA, as it stands today and for the last few decades, is very simple and standard guideline for environmental law, serving more as an “ingredient list than a full recipe.” At this point in time, with the condition of earth’s climate and the United States well being, the government should be working to expand the NEPA. It should be made more clear, more specific, and more efficient. However, it seems Trump and his team have different plans, and hope to “re-write” (a.k.a destroy) the policy all together. This would be a huge step backwards in the human fight against climate change, especially for the US. I think the consequences of destroying this policy are actually harsher than this article concludes. The NEPA represents a mind set of environmental consciousness, and is the only federal policy dealing with environmental law. It gives the people the right to help protect their own right to a healthy environment, and gives the public the chance to check infrastructure policies that might otherwise go un-interrupted. Without it, the limits of economic expansion will expand, but even more discouraging, the idea of national environmental consciousness will be depleted. Trump is trying to shift our worldview back to that of planetary management (a view in which the environment is only a mere resource for humans to use). This is a terrifying thought. If the NEPA is destroyed, Trump is one step closer to erasing environmental thinking. The article ends on a more hopeful note, claiming that after years of law, a reform of the NEPA is possible to make it more efficient so it works more like the CEQA, which is “more stringent” and has a shorter limit on review processing. While there is hope (since the new head of operations at least believes in climate change), it is not likely that any positive progress will be made. It is more likely that Trump will continue to push his environmentally degrading mindset on America and try to destroy years of slow but meaningful progress.

    -Jameson May

    ReplyDelete
  8. I also did not know about National Environmental Policy Act before reading this posting. I like the idea of having this law in place so we can consider the environment and try to minimize the damage we do. Before this law was signed, agencies were mission oriented, so they built structures without thought to how it was affecting our environment. NEPA has proven that it is serving its purpose in reducing environmental damage, while also benefiting the economy by saving us money. I do not agree with Trump’s plans to rewrite the law. This will only bring about more harm to our economy. However, like in California’s version of NEPA, I do think we could improve the law to be more time effective. Trump’s desire to cut the review process to two years isn’t completely unreasonable. Many people do not think preserving the environment is important, but in the long run it will benefit us economically too. Amber Smith

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am not surprised that Trump's first instinct in office was to eradicate the National Environmental Policy Act. The way his political party values anything without monetary results is horrific. Yet environmental protections have never been more essential after the continuous ignorance of generation after generation towards how to maintain our limited resources. The entire point of NEPA was to account for how unpredictable nature in fact is as well as stay conscious of how we treat our environment. It was the only policy of it's kind and at the state the ecosystem is heading, now is the best time to expand our political action towards our environment. Although it should be common sense that we should take care of our surroundings instead of capitalizing on them, people are innately selfish which in turn promotes greed- NEPA put in words that businesses have to take into account the damage their operations could potentially cause the environment and society. There is too much present bias when it comes to issues like this especially for the older generations- it's not going to affect them, so might as well make as much money as you can while you are still alive. I understand the heartless intention behind it, but no excuses.

    -Miranda Baldo

    ReplyDelete
  10. The National Environmental Policy Act is news to me. This act is very important to the future of this country. The Trump administration needs to stop wanting to diminish important acts/laws to diminish and harm the environment. The Trump administration needs to start taking climate change seriously. We need to start listening to the environment because it will start affecting our every day life. These decisions are for the benefit of money and not for the care of the people. Society needs to start paying more attention to the environment as well and the risks that we will face because of this diminishing of the act and need to be informed of their economic benefits of wanting to help instead of harming the environment. The government is not putting the citizens first. I think CEQ is more efficient and NEPA should adapt to a similar form. I hope businesses start becoming more responsible and stop doing projects that can harmful for the people and the environment. There needs be less money hungry, out for themselves businesses, corporate social responsibility is very important. As citizens we need to start taking care of the planet more as well.

    -Melissa Correa

    ReplyDelete
  11. In the 1940s and 1960s, the rapid growth of American industrial manufacturing and people's consumption was followed by the obvious deterioration of air, water and soil pollution. The prosperity of American economy was accompanied by heavy environmental costs. Southern California was plagued by smog caused by poor oil quality and poor road traffic. The lack of effective environmental enforcement laws was one reason for this, since the few environmental laws available at the time either failed to provide substantive protection or were not effectively enforced. Until the 1970s, the United States began to establish laws to protect the environmental, which includes the NEPA. I think that the risk now is that the public is less environmentally conscious, and with the President and congress in the same party, budget cuts could tie the EPA's hands, but there are also suggestions that the president could simply roll back EPA. It will be hard for the us to make much progress on protecting environment under President Trump.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I also, haven't heard of NEPA before and I found this post an enlightening read. I definitely learned a lot about what the National Environmental Policy Act is and how it plays a role in our governance today. I think it is really important to take measures to live a more sustainable lifestyle but its uncertain to what extent Mary Neumayr intends on governing. Hopefully she is able to see the effects of climate change in a serious manner (even more than her current understanding) in order to potentially bring society on track to a more sustainable and longterm future for humans on earth. These laws were put in to place for a reason and if a new administration comes in and decides that it doens't go along with their interests then that should be something we should look into. After all, this planet is home to all of us and we need to make sure that we keep our home clean and safe. In order to do so we must have a government that reflects our views on the planet. Yes, our economy does better with less sustainable products but it is only a short term benefit. The long term benefit would be to set create sustainable products which would lead a better future for not only us but future generations as well.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I also did not know about National Environmental Policy Act before reading this posting. I like the idea of having this law in place so we can consider the environment and try to minimize the damage we do. Before this law was signed, agencies were mission oriented, so they built structures without thought to how it was affecting our environment. NEPA has proven that it is serving its purpose in reducing environmental damage, while also benefiting the economy by saving us money. I do not agree with Trump’s plans to rewrite the law. This will only bring about more harm to our economy. However, like in California’s version of NEPA, I do think we could improve the law to be more time effective. Trump’s desire to cut the review process to two years isn’t completely unreasonable. Many people do not think preserving the environment is important, but in the long run it will benefit us economically too.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I had actually heard about The National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) back in my senior year of high school in my Environmental Science course. Here I am a senior in college and its being mentioned again. Just like back then as of now I personally like this act because I think its beneficial to the planet and in terms of health. I don’t understand as to why President Trump would cut this fifty year old act. If he disagrees with it so much, I feel as though he should try to reevaluate and maybe enhance it to the present day’s difficultly. I feel like many businesses will protest this and this is also a reason for why President Trump does not want to keep this plan around because it causes companies to be more aware of environmental problems. They do not seem to care that what their companies are doing are affecting the environment. All they care about is once some people are buying it, then that’s it. I think that “California’s version of NEPA, the California Environmental Quality Act” review process should be adopted by NEPA. The review process has a one year time limit. I think President Trump should find this a better way to keep the act but by actually making better efforts. Let me tell you why I feel this is a better effort. By having a one year time limit, you limit any funding issues that may arise for the next year. You find ways every year to make improvements and take out what was not working for the act. The environment is actually constantly changing with the increase of the population and overusing resources. Climate change is actually happening everyday due to the fact of how many emissions are being put out. This causes new conditions to maybe arise that we haven’t seen last year. So this new year we can make a change in the act. Every year changes can be reevaluated and access more effectively.

    ReplyDelete