GOP tackles environmental laws

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are hoping to rewrite one of the nation's most sweeping environmental laws — in a way that could change how the government gauges the impact of its actions on the land, sea and air.

For 36 years the government has relied on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to serve as a check on federal activities that have a "significant impact" on the environment. The law requires federal officials to determine whether such things as highway construction and flood-control projects will alter the surrounding landscape. And it allows citizens to challenge the government's conclusions. Its scope is so broad, the government conducts 50,000 "environmental assessments" a year.

But Republicans such as Rep. Cathy McMorris, R-Spokane, who chaired a 20-member House task force, said the law had led to "delays, excessive paperwork and lawsuits" even as it helped guide the government. Late last month her staff released a 30-page report, which is subject to public comment for 45 days, suggesting possible fixes.

The GOP staff report, which was based on seven public hearings lawmakers held across the country, proposes setting mandatory deadlines for completing environmental assessments, giving greater weight to comments by local interests, seeing if federal efforts duplicate state evaluations of government activities, and defining more precisely what constitutes a "major federal action" under the law.

Several environmentalists questioned the conclusions, noting that of the 50,000 annual reviews, only 0.2 percent led to lawsuits. They noted that the Clinton and Bush administrations had assessed how the law was working, and both concluded the issue was inadequate implementation, not the act itself.

Deborah Sease, legislative director for the Sierra Club, said the language in the report was so "vague, you open the door to undermining the principles of NEPA."

Each side can point to the law's virtues and faults.

Environmentalists note that scientists last year announced the rediscovery of the presumed-extinct ivory-billed woodpecker along the Cache River, which the Army Corps of Engineers planned to dredge until citizens challenged the Corps' environmental analysis and blocked the flood-control project.

But some timber companies say they have not been able to salvage trees felled by forest fires in time because of the government's elaborate regulations under NEPA.