Remember when President Trump cut Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent last year? And slashed Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument nearly in half? Management plans are being developed right now for both monuments by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
Do you want input into whether new off-road routes should be created near archaeological sites in Bears Ears or whether oil and gas operations should be given the green light to suck water out of Grand Staircase springs? Your best shot is through NEPA, but the Trump administration is after NEPA, too.
What’s NEPA? The National Environmental Policy Act. You might not recognize this 1970 law by name, but NEPA is the Magna Carta of environmental laws. It’s the United States' most widely imitated law — over 160 other countries have adopted legislation based on it. Why? Because it guarantees citizens like you and me a right to participate in decisions about federal projects that affect our communities and our environment. NEPA requires government agencies to take a hard look at the environmental and public health impacts of projects and to use science (not “alternative facts”) in that hard look. For 48 years, NEPA has been a powerful tool for communities to protect themselves from dangerous or poorly planned projects. NEPA is known to many as the law that requires the government to look before it leaps.
You may have heard of or commented on environmental impact statements (EISs) or environmental assessments (EAs). These are the public documents that federal agencies must prepare according to NEPA regulations whenever they propose to permit a project—like giving a permit to tar sands mining on Forest Service wildlands — or develop a plan — like clearcutting thousands of acres of pinyon and juniper — that might result in significant environmental impacts.
Some examples? The state of Utah relied on NEPA to ensure that the environmental impacts of the proposal to store high-level nuclear waste on the Skull Valley Reservation were adequately analyzed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in the midst of a NEPA process to decide how and where hunting will be expanded in the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. Both the Ashley and Manti-La Sal national forests have begun a NEPA process to change how those national forests are managed.
NEPA regulations require federal agencies to answer three questions about projects, permits or plans they are proposing to undertake or fund (with your taxpayer money): (1) What comments or ideas are you getting from the public about your proposal? (2) What options or alternatives are you considering? (3) What environmental impacts might be caused by your project and the alternatives (based on the best available science)? In other words, agencies must gather and respond to public input, think about alternative approaches, and use science to make the best decision.
Our president often speaks of handing out industrial permits “so fast your head will spin.” So it’s not surprising that the Trump administration now wants your thoughts on how to make NEPA more “efficient.” Make no mistake: efficiency is a code word for speeding up permits and plans. Does efficiency mean reducing the types of projects and plans on which you can comment? Does it mean agencies will be allowed to barely describe alternatives that might be better? Does it mean federal agencies will be allowed to ignore climate change in their decisions to permit a coal mine expansion or further reduce sage grouse habitat?
Think about a world where our government can make fateful decisions more quickly by reducing public input, ignoring options, and making up “facts.” Efficient, but deadly.
On June 20, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (which oversees NEPA regulations) issued 20 questions for public comment about revising the sturdy 48-year-old NEPA regulations and gave you 30 days to respond. Public outcry resulted in an extension of the public comment period by 30 more days, until August 20.
You can get to the June 20 Federal Register notice by googling “NEPA Revision Comments”. You can comment by going to “www.regulations.gov” and entering “CEQ-2018-0001” in the “search” field. You can comment on any or all of the 20 questions, or you can simply stand up for NEPA regulations as they are. They’re really about thoughtful government decision-making. What’s the alternative?
Mary O’Brien is the Utah Forests Program Director at the Grand Canyon Trust, and lives in Castle Valley, Utah.
Rais Trump amepunguza gharama za ujenzi wa ukumbusho wa Bears Ears kwa asilimia 85 Na kukata Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument karibu nusu? Mipango ya usimamizi inaendelezwa sasa hivi kwa ajili ya makaburi yote mawili na Huduma ya Misitu na Ofisi ya Usimamizi wa Ardhi. "Mimi naomba ushauri wa jinsi ya kujenga barabara mpya karibu na maeneo ya akiolojia ya Bears Ears au kama shughuli za mafuta na gesi zinapaswa kupewa mwanga wa kijani kwa suck maji nje ya chemchemi za Grand Staircase. """ "Kama ni kweli, ""Nepal"" ni mpango wa Trump, lakini kwa kweli, serikali ya Trump inatafuta ""Nepal"" pia." NEPA ni nini? Sheria ya Sera ya Mazingira ya Kitaifa. "Hii ni sheria ya 1970 ambayo inaitwa ""Magna Carta"" ya sheria za mazingira." Sheria hiyo ni ya kwanza katika nchi za Ulaya na zaidi ya nchi 160 zimetumia sheria hiyo. Kwa nini? "Kwa sababu inahakikisha wananchi kama wewe na mimi haki ya kushiriki katika maamuzi kuhusu miradi ya shirikisho ambayo huathiri jamii zetu na mazingira yetu. """ NEPA inahitaji mashirika ya serikali kuchukua kuangalia ngumu juu ya athari za mazingira na afya ya umma ya miradi na kutumia sayansi (si <unk> ukweli mbadala <unk>) katika kuangalia ngumu. Kwa miaka 48 sasa, NEPA imekuwa chombo chenye nguvu kwa jamii kujilinda dhidi ya miradi hatari au iliyopangwa vibaya. Sheria ya NEPA inawafanya wengi kuwa na wasiwasi kuhusu jinsi serikali itafanya kazi. Unaweza kuwa umesikia kuhusu taarifa za athari za mazingira (EIAs) au tathmini za mazingira (EAs). Hizi ni nyaraka za umma ambazo mashirika ya shirikisho lazima yaandalishe kulingana na kanuni za NEPA wakati wowote wanapopendekeza kuruhusu mradi - kama kutoa ruhusa ya uchimbaji wa mchanga wa lami kwenye maeneo ya msitu ya Huduma ya Misitu - au kuendeleza mpango - kama vile kuondoa maelfu ya ekari ya pinyon na juniper - ambayo inaweza kusababisha athari kubwa za mazingira. Mifano fulani? Serikali ya Utah ilitegemea NEPA kuhakikisha kuwa athari za mazingira za pendekezo la kuhifadhi taka za nyuklia za kiwango cha juu kwenye Hifadhi ya Bonde la Skull zilichambuliwa vya kutosha. Marekani Shirika la Ulinzi wa Wanyama wa Bahari na Wanyama wa Pori (Fish and Wildlife Service) limekuwa likijaribu kuamua jinsi ya kupanua uwindaji katika hifadhi ya ndege wa kusafiri ya Bear River. Miti ya Taifa ya Ashley na Manti-La Sal imeanzisha mchakato wa NEPA kubadilisha jinsi misitu hiyo ya kitaifa inasimamiwa. Sheria za NEPA zinahitaji mashirika ya shirikisho kujibu maswali matatu kuhusu miradi, vibali au mipango wanayoipendekeza kutekeleza au kufadhili (kwa pesa za walipa kodi yako): (1) Ni maoni gani au mawazo unayopata kutoka kwa umma juu ya pendekezo lako? (2) Ni chaguzi gani au mbadala gani unaozingatia? 3) Ni athari gani za mazingira zinazoweza kusababishwa na mradi wako na mbadala (kwa msingi wa sayansi bora inayopatikana)? Kwa maneno mengine, mashirika lazima kukusanya na kujibu maoni ya umma, kufikiri juu ya mbinu mbadala, na kutumia sayansi kufanya uamuzi bora. "Mwanamfalme Trump amesema kuwa ""ni mara nyingi anajadili kutoa vibali vya viwanda kwa kasi sana, hivyo haishangazi kwamba utawala wa Trump sasa unataka mawazo yako juu ya jinsi ya kufanya NEPA kuwa na ufanisi zaidi, usifanye makosa: ufanisi ni neno la kificho kwa ajili ya kuharakisha vibali na mipango.""" Je, ufanisi unamaanisha kupunguza aina za miradi na mipango ambayo unaweza kutoa maoni? Je, inamaanisha mashirika yataruhusiwa kuelezea tu mbadala ambazo zinaweza kuwa bora? Je, serikali itaweza kupuuza mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa katika maamuzi yao ya kuruhusu upanuzi wa mgodi wa makaa ya mawe au kupunguza zaidi makazi ya sage grouse? Fikiria ulimwengu ambapo serikali yetu inaweza kufanya maamuzi muhimu haraka zaidi kwa kupunguza pembejeo ya umma, kupuuza chaguzi, na kutengeneza <unk> ukweli.<unk> Ufanisi, lakini hatari. Baraza la ubora wa mazingira la White House (WCC) limetoa maswali 20 kwa maoni ya umma juu ya marekebisho ya sheria za NEPA na kukupa siku 30 kujibu. Baada ya maandamano ya umma, kipindi cha maoni ya umma kiliongezwa kwa siku 30 zaidi, hadi Agosti 20. Unaweza kupata taarifa ya Juni 20 ya Usajili wa Shirikisho kwa kugoogling <unk> NEPA Revision Comments <unk>. Unaweza kutoa maoni kwa kwenda <unk>www.regulations.gov<unk> na kuingiza <unk>CEQ-2018-0001<unk> katika <unk>utafutaji<unk> uwanja. Unaweza kuelezea maswali yote au yoyote ya maswali 20 au unaweza tu kusimama kwa kanuni za NEPA kama zilivyo. Wao ni kweli kuhusu maamuzi ya serikali ya kufikiri. Njia nyingine ni nini? Mary O'Brien ni Mkurugenzi wa Programu ya Misitu ya Utah katika Grand Canyon Trust, na anaishi katika Castle Valley, Utah.