Bedrock environmental law takes a beating
by Laura Paskus
Pombo’s task force tears into the National Environmental Policy Act
RIO RANCHO,
New Mexico — As registering students chat in the glaring heat
outside Rio Rancho High School, a more subdued crowd fills the
school’s darkened auditorium: Lanky men in pressed Wranglers
and new cowboy hats and environmentalists wearing "I support NEPA"
stickers all await testimony about the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA).
When President Richard Nixon signed
NEPA in 1970, the law required unprecedented environmental studies
and public input for projects involving federal land or money. But
Republican lawmakers have become increasingly critical of the law
— and now, the House Resources Committee, chaired by Rep.
Richard Pombo, R-Calif., is holding six hearings across the country
to solicit input about it (HCN, 7/25/05: Will the real Mr. Pombo
please stand up?).
"This region will provide clear
examples of two of the themes that have emerged from previous
hearings: NEPA is a process that is too long and too litigious,"
reads a Resources Committee briefing distributed to the press at
the hearing. And indeed, this Aug. 1 hearing turns out to be
stacked against the environmental law.
The NEPA task
force members in attendance include Republican Reps. Cathy
McMorris, Wash., and Chris Cannon, Utah, and Democratic Congressmen
Tom Udall, N.M., and Raúl Grijalva, Ariz. The 14 witnesses
include three energy executives, two state officials, two ranchers,
two American Indians, a city councilor, a property-rights attorney,
a former lieutenant governor, a biologist, and a former county
commissioner with ties to the timber industry. No members of any
environmental groups sit upon the stage.
Industry dominates
Four of the witnesses
defend NEPA. Calbert Seciwa with Zuni Pueblo is a founding member
of the Zuni Salt Lake Coalition, which successfully defeated a coal
mine proposal near an area sacred to the tribe. He explains that
without the law — which requires the federal government to
notify local communities of projects and allow the public to
comment — "we would have been both uninformed and voiceless"
(HCN, 2/2/04: Uranium mill or dump?).
The remaining 10
witnesses take swipes at the law, but today’s spotlight
clearly belongs to the energy industry. Dave Brown of BP America
recommends that federal agencies grant "categorical exclusions" for
permitting and leasing of oil and gas projects — that is, no
environmental studies would be required. He also asks that outside
parties be prevented from commenting on proposals, and recommends
that taxpayers, rather than industry itself, fund environmental
studies.
Duane Zavadil of the Bill Barrett Corp.
complains that seismic tests — in which specialized trucks
send vibrations deep into the earth, seeking underground fossil
fuel deposits — "have been proven to have absolutely no
environmental impact" but that NEPA still requires industry to
conduct extensive studies. NEPA, he says, "has become cumbersome
and fraught with delays," and these delays are paid for by
consumers.
Richard Fraley of Burlington Resources
recommends that well pads of five acres or less be eligible for
categorical exclusions. Burlington, the largest producer of natural
gas in New Mexico, already operates more than 6,500 wells in the
state — almost all on pads of less than five acres. Fraley
also says Congress should provide "additional funding to BLM
offices with high oil and gas activity," and concludes that "NEPA
constraints inhibit the production of natural gas, thereby limiting
the supply and impacting the cost of living for all Americans."
Grijalva gets it on the record
It is
left largely to Rep. Grijalva to respond to industry arguments. He
cites a July 28, 2005, press release from Burlington, in which the
company announced its fourth consecutive quarterly earnings record
— and a recent record $537 million profit. Grijalva asks
Fraley, "How can the task force reconcile what you’re saying
here with (this press release)?" He then asks Brown why BP America
supports funding positions within the agencies while at the same
time it opposes attempts by the Bureau of Land Management to raise
administrative fees to cover the cost of drilling applications
(HCN, 8/8/05: Industry embeds its own in the BLM).
Grijalva also questions Sue Kupillas, with the Oregon-based
Communities for Healthy Forests. During her testimony, Kupillas
blamed NEPA for logging delays after the Biscuit Fire — a
2002 fire that burned nearly 500,000 acres (HCN, 5/16/05:
Unsalvageable). Grijalva says environmentalists did not oppose the
Forest Service’s plan until the Bush administration revised
it from a harvest of 96 million board-feet to more than 500 million
board-feet: "I don’t know (if) that’s a NEPA issue, but
overreaching on the part of the administration" (HCN, 5/16/05:
Unsalvageable).
Karen Budd-Falen, a property-rights
attorney in Cheyenne, had lugged six bankers’ boxes of
grazing documents onto the stage. She opined that "in today’s
rampant environmental litigation environment, it is extremely
difficult to imagine that (any) federal decision or action can
escape NEPA review." When Grijalva asks her if she has ever used
NEPA to litigate on the part of ranchers or farmers, Budd-Falen
says yes, over the release of Mexican wolves in the Southwest.
Grijalva responds with another question: "So, the saying
‘what’s good for the goose’ does not apply here?"
Asked afterwards if his questions will change
conservative minds in Congress, Grijalva shrugs: "I just try to
make them uncomfortable. Even if they don’t answer my
questions, it doesn’t matter — it’s on the
record."
Neither the Resources Committee nor the task
force’s press team returned calls, but Glen Loveland, Rep.
Udall’s press secretary, says of the selection process for
witnesses: "We submitted some names, (and Republican Rep.
McMorris’ staff) submitted some names, but it’s pretty
common with a Resources Committee hearing that (the Republicans)
always have more witnesses than we do — no matter what the
hearing topic is."
Once the nationwide hearings end this
year, the Resources Committee plans to report its findings to
Congress. But Congress is already moving ahead on some fronts: The
energy bill, signed by President Bush in New Mexico on Aug. 8,
allows categorical exclusions for certain oil and gas activities,
and the transportation bill, signed Aug. 10, "expedites" the NEPA
process for certain transportation projects.
"Everybody
wants their own private exemptions," says Forest Guardians
Executive Director John Horning. "And at the end of the day,
there’s going to be nothing left standing."