CEQ PROPOSES RULE CHANGES TO NEPA PROTECTIONS
American Whitewater and its partners, including Outdoor Alliance and the Hydropower Reform Coalition, are filing comments today on the administration's proposed rollback of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations. The proposed revisions would allow federal permitting without adequately considering climate change impacts, limit consideration of alternatives, and limit public participation in the permitting process. AW is committed to protecting our natural resources from degradation by assuring thorough environmental review before federal permitting to ensure the protection of environmental quality including appropriate recreational uses. NEPA review of environmental impacts are a critical part of hydropower relicensing. The revisions to the NEPA rules being proposed by the Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ) would weaken NEPA in numerous ways including the following:
- Limits when NEPA review of environmental impacts is required
- Elimination of consideration of cumulative effects from NEPA documents including consideration of climate change
- Narrowing of the definition of reasonable alternatives that must be considered as part of the NEPA review
- Limiting the length and shortening the time to conduct NEPA review
- Allows use of old studies when considering environmental impacts
- Reduces the time and increases the specificity required for submitting comments that need to be addressed
Today is the last day to take action on this issue so please use our simple easy action form to make your voice heard right now!