Frank Pallone: “This amendment makes an end run around the National Environmental Policy Act. The amendment would simply eliminate any…”

“This amendment makes an end run around the National Environmental Policy Act. The amendment would simply eliminate any meaningful review of the environmental impact of large trans- boundary infrastructure projects by redefining and significantly narrowing the scope of NEPA's environmental review. While a traditional NEPA review looks at the impacts of an entire project, this amendment restricts NEPA review only to that small portion that physically crosses the border, and that defies common sense. We are talking about massive projects that are more than just at border crossing. When we approve a trans-boundary pipeline or transmission line, we are approving multibillion-dollar infrastructures that may stretch hundreds of miles and will last for decades. They cross through private property, water bodies, farms, sensitive lands, and over aquifers. They carry substances that can catch fire or spill and pollute the environment, and they have profound implications for climate change. To understand the potential environmental impact of an energy project, we need to look at the project as a whole. To ignore the potential environmental or safety risks for every part of the project except the tiny sliver of land at the national boundary makes no sense. Imagine going to the doctor if you are feeling sick, and the doctor gives you a clean bill of health after looking only at your elbow.…”