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Locals Back Role of Public Participation in Major Projects Critics of National Environmental Policy Act Using Hurricane Katrina as an Excuse to Remove Environmental Safeguards MD, NC, VA, WV – Citizens gathered together to speak out about the importance of public input in government decision-making on a regional teleconference today. Local community leaders sent a message that maintaining and strengthening the community’s voice in decisions on major federal projects is critical to making wise choices that enhance the quality of life in our communities. “The National Environmental Policy Act protects and empowers the public. People deserve more of a say – not less – in decisions that impact their lives and property,” said Maria Gunnoe, who watched in fury as mining equipment has leveled Island Creek Mountain behind her family homestead in southern West Virginia. “Too often local communities aren’t involved, and the impacts can be devastating.” Skip Stiles, Vice President of Wetlands Watch who will testify at Saturday’s hearing, pointed out that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) not only guarantees the public a seat at the decision-making table, it provides options. “NEPA gives communities and the federal government choices in how to move forward and ensure that the locals will be involved in the decisions,” Stiles said. The community gathered today in anticipation of the upcoming congressional hearing on the effectiveness of the National Environmental Policy Act. It is the fifth public field hearing being held by the Congressional NEPA Task Force, which was formed by California Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA), who chairs the House Resources Committee. The public is allowed to observe while invited witnesses testify about NEPA. The 35-year old National Environmental Policy Act was signed into law in 1970 by President M. Nixon. It requires federal agencies to study and disclose the community and environmental effects of major projects and include the public in the decision-making process for federally funded projects. However, there are some who want to curtail NEPA’s environmental review process and public participation in the name of speeding up projects. “Sometimes quality of work matters more than speed. Cutting corners to get a job done faster can have disastrous consequences for the community. NEPA makes sure we look before we leap, and any attempts to weaken it will take away our safety net,” said Rupert Cutler, a Roanoke, Virginia, city councilman who worked in Washington, D.C. on the passage of NEPA in 1970. The last few days have been witness to an opportunistic attempt to use the tragedy that struck the Gulf Coast states to discredit environmentalists and weaken environmental protections, specifically the National Environmental Policy Act. Despite NEPA’s track record of balance, common sense and openness for three decades, organizers of Saturday’s public hearing have cynically billed it as a reaction to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, trying to force through their pre-existing agenda of weakening environmental laws by blaming environmentalists for flooding. "On the heels of Hurricane Katrina, when there is widespread distrust as to whether government can protect the public, it is vital that we have in place mechanisms to hold government accountable,” said Mike Town, Director of the Virginia Chapter of Sierra Club. “There are right ways and wrong ways to design a highway or even build a levee. By ensuring that there is good science and local input, the government is much more likely to get it right." The NEPA Task Force will hold its hearing on Saturday, September 17 at 1:00 in Norfolk, VA. For more information about NEPA, please visit: www.sierraclub.org/lookbeforeyouleap.
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