Alan Lowenthal: “As my fellow Californian Ronald Reagan once said, ``There you go again.'' Attacks on NEPA have become almost a common…”

“As my fellow Californian Ronald Reagan once said, ``There you go again.'' Attacks on NEPA have become almost a common, weekly occurrence in this Congress, and H.R. 348 is just the latest iteration. We should really call this bill the VAPID Act because it is tired, unimaginative, and a ploy to undermine one of our bedrock environmental laws: NEPA. My amendment would not fix all of this bill's problems, but it certainly would inject some small sense of fiscal responsibility into this legislation that seemingly has been designed for wasting taxpayers' money. Restricting the ability of the public to comment on proposed projects virtually guarantees more lawsuits and more hastily approved projects that could turn into embarrassing boondoggles. Particularly in the face of climate change, we must take special care to ensure that the future value of projects is considered. This means thoroughly evaluating the risks associated with more frequent and intense wildfires as well as flooding caused by stronger storms and higher sea levels. Doing these reviews will not delay projects. As was pointed out by the ranking member, it is a fact that 95 percent of all NEPA analyses are completed through categorical exclusions, which generally require only a few days to process. Less than 5 percent require an environmental assessment, and less than 1 percent require a full environmental impact statement, or an EIS.…”