NEPA Amendment Gutted: Another Reason Stimulus Will Fail

Conn Carroll / February 17, 2009

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) sponsored an amendment last week that would have exempted any project funded by the stimulus plan from costly, and mandatory National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) reviews. The amendment would have allowed any project whose NEPA review takes longer than 270 days to be exempt from the review requirement. Worried that one of their most powerful weapons for killing economic growth would be undermined, environmentalists rallied to gut the amendment. The stimulus bill now only requires:

(a) Adequate resources within this bill must be devoted to ensuring that applicable environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act are completed on an expeditious basis and that the shortest existing applicable process under the National Environmental Policy Act shall be utilized.

(b) The President shall report to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee every 90 days until September 30, 2011, following the date of enactment on the status and progress of projects and activities funded by this act with respect to compliance with National Environmental Policy Act requirements and documentation. (more…)