John Kerry: “I supported the motion to table the Bryan amendment to S. 1936 not because it included a requirement that the Department…”

“I supported the motion to table the Bryan amendment to S. 1936 not because it included a requirement that the Department of Energy comply with the National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA] in the establishment of an interim storage facility at the Nevada nuclear test site--language which I support--but because it also included unjustifiably sweeping judicial review language. While I support judicial review of all final agency actions, this provision goes well beyond final rulemakings and would be unnecessarily burdensome and costly to both the Federal Government and the private sector. In my judgment, should this bill become law over my objections, this judicial review could cause the entire process of establishing the repository to grind to a halt. Congress passed NEPA in 1969 to ensure that Federal agencies integrate environmental values--as well as social, economic, and technical factors--in the decisionmaking process.”