{"id":9796,"date":"2020-02-19T19:43:07","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T00:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/rollback-of-environmental-law-lambasted\/"},"modified":"2020-02-19T19:43:11","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T00:43:11","slug":"rollback-of-environmental-law-lambasted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/rollback-of-environmental-law-lambasted\/","title":{"rendered":"Rollback of environmental law lambasted"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Juan Mancias, Chairman of the Carrizo \/ Comecrudo Tribe of Texas. (Photo: Angel Amaya of Western Organization of Resource Councils)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

DENVER \u2013 Indigenous leaders were among the many who raised their voices here Feb. 11 at one of only two hearings in the whole United States on a White House proposal to roll back guarantees of public participation in environmental decision making.
\nComing from rural communities throughout the West, they rallied to an urban backdrop of street music, sirens and jackhammer sounds in the snow and ice outside of EPA Region 8 headquarters.
\nTestifying inside, they told the White House Council on Environmental Quality to abandon recent proposals that would reduce public comment opportunities and would curb consideration of projects\u2019 cumulative impacts in regulatory rulings pursuant to the bedrock National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.
\nJuan Mancias, chairman of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe, who traveled here from his native Lower Rio Grande Valley, spoke against the NEPA revisions, noting that the tribe has sued the federal government for the Administration\u2019s two-year-old waiver of that law and 27 others. The waiver was for the purpose of building a wall between the United States and Mexico.
\n\u201cWe need to protect every voice, even the saguaro cactus. It takes us. It affects who we are. We are the original people of the land and we\u2019re having to fight,\u201d Mancias said, explaining that the wall is slated for construction three miles from the U.S.-Mexico border such that liquefied natural gas facilities, pipelines and other private projects behind the wall could be exempt from standard oversight while occupying ancestral land claims.
\nThe Council on Environmental Quality points out that it needs to \u201cmodernize\u201d and \u201cupdate\u201d regulations to \u201cfacilitate more efficient, effective, and timely NEPA reviews by simplifying and clarifying regulatory requirements.\u201d
\nIts notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on Jan. 10 is designed to \u201creduce unnecessary paperwork and delays, and to promote better decision-making,\u201d it says.
\nIt responds to U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s 2017 Executive Order 13807 establishing a \u201cOne Federal Decision\u201d policy, including a two-year goal for completing environmental reviews for major infrastructure projects.
\n\u201cThe increased costs and complexity of NEPA reviews and litigation make it very challenging for large and small businesses to plan, finance, and build projects in the United States,\u201d the council says in a fact sheet.
\nHowever, the rules also apply to reviews of government projects, notes Lisa DeVille, who testified about the proposal on behalf of Ft. Berthold POWER (Protectors of Water and Earth Rights), from Mandaree, North Dakota.
\n\u201cFor tribal communities like Fort Berthold, which bear the brunt of health problems such as heart disease and asthma from the poorly planned federal projects, NEPA isn\u2019t just an environmental protection law, it\u2019s a critical tool for ensuring our voice. We cannot afford to lose it,\u201d said DeVille, a tribal member of the Mandan Hidatsa & Arikara Nation.
\n\u201cAny law that provides broad opportunities for public participation in government decisions that affect the environment and local communities shouldn\u2019t be rolled back; rather, laws like NEPA should be embraced and strengthened. NEPA is one of the only avenues for tribal members to have any input on federal actions,\u201d she said.
\nAccording to the American Bird Conservancy, \u201cThese revisions would significantly curtail scientific assessment and review of environmental impacts of federal projects. Additionally, these changes would eliminate important public comment provisions. It\u2019s critical that the public be afforded the opportunity to comment on projects that affect birds, like the Bald Eagle and the habitat they depend on,\u201d it says.
\nNavajo communities facing fracking in the Greater Chaco Region are the reason Navajo Nation Council Delegate Daniel Tso sent a representative to speak at the Denver rally. The Bureau of Land Management has approved more than 400 new fracking wells without adequate tribal consultation or protections for cultural heritage, community health, and water and climate impacts, according to opponents.
\n\u201cCommunities have consistently cited the need for more NEPA review,\u201d he said, adding that government-to-government consultation between the Administration and tribes should take place prior to NEPA changes.
\nA May 2019 Tenth Circuit Court ruling held that BLM failed to analyze the cumulative water impacts of fracking in the Greater Chaco Region, a win for Navajo chapters in the impacted area. However, the requirement to do so would be nullified if NEPA regulations change as proposed, he said. \u201cYou win, but then they do this to get around,\u201d he concluded.
\nSan Felipe Indian Pueblo Council Member Tyrone Ortiz, who travelled from New Mexico to the rally, said the pueblo opposes changes to NEPA and weakening protection for the environment. He called for more public hearings.
\n\u201cCurrently the Administration is attacking us all to benefit industry,\u201d he said. NEPA \u201cexists to give the public time to consider and comment. These two public hearings are not enough.\u201d
\nThe second scheduled hearing was set for Feb. 25, at Interior Department\u2019s Yates Auditorium in Washington, D.C. Tickets are available online, according to the council.
\nOrtiz exalted in the recent snowfall and continued, \u201cWe must consider our actions on this earth. Once we get together, we can assure that our future generations will be able to see what we see.\u201d
\nYvette Arellano, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services senior policy analyst, who moderated the rally, called the proposed rule changes \u201cradical\u201d and \u201cdrastic.\u201d She said they respond to the needs of special interests, such as the American Petroleum Institute, which \u201care literally spending millions of dollars\u201d to \u201cseverely restrict public input.\u201d
\nAPI welcomed the proposed reforms in a Jan. 9 statement saying, \u201cThe move would reduce the red tape slowing critical infrastructure projects and create jobs across the country while strengthening environmental progress.\u201d
\nAPI President and CEO Mike Sommers declared, \u201cEndless and repetitive reviews for infrastructure, renewable energy, natural gas and oil projects have been misused to delay and derail development, which hurts job creation, reduces tax revenue and saps investments in communities across the country.\u201d
\nAPI sustains that \u201cimproving permitting could unleash more than a trillion dollars in private-sector investment.\u201d The National Petroleum Council reported that \u201coverlapping and duplicative regulatory requirements, inconsistencies across multiple federal and state agencies, and unnecessarily lengthy administrative procedures have created a complex and unpredictable permitting process.\u201d
\nThe Council on Environmental Quality found that the average time for federal agencies to conduct NEPA reviews is four-and-a-half years.
\nWritten comments will be accepted until March 10 via any of the following methods. Go to www.regulations.gov\/<\/a> and follow the online instructions for submitting comments to Docket ID No. CEQ-2019-0003. Fax to 202-456-6546, or mail to Council on Environmental Quality \/ 730 Jackson Place NW \/ Washington, DC 20503 \/ Attn: Docket No. CEQ-2019-0003.<\/p>\n

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>

Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

Juan Mancias, Chairman of the Carrizo \/ Comecrudo Tribe of Texas. (Photo: Angel Amaya of Western Organization of Resource Councils) DENVER \u2013 Indigenous leaders were among the many who raised their voices here Feb. 11 at one of only two hearings in the whole United States on a White House <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> February 19, 2020<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":9797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5627],"tags":[10105,3222,6657],"class_list":["post-9796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resource-directory-blog","tag-archive","tag-news","tag-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}