[CPEO-MEF] SENATOR HANSEN AT IT AGAIN.

[rama@accutek.com]

HI FOLKS, PLEASE GET THIS OUT TO YOUR NETWORKS.  ASAP.   THANKS, GRACE


!!!  URGENT ALERT  !!!

The House has passed a defense appropriations bill with a last minute
amendment tacked on to eliminate any and all NEPA lawsuits regarding the
Air Force's low-level military training flights. This outrageous rider
is primarily aimed at getting rid of the lawsuit [brought by the Western

Environmental Law Center on behalf of a coalition led by the Rural
Alliance for Military Accountability and the Center for Biological
Diversity] seeking a programmatic EIS for the Air Force's entire
low-level training program in the U.S., but it will also eliminate local

pending actions throughout the nation.

Republican Representative Jim Hansen of Utah is responsible for this
outrageous effort to prevent the judiciary from deciding whether the
military has complied with NEPA.

WE MUST STOP THIS MOCKERY OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM AND THE WHOLE NOTION
THAT OUR GOVERNMENT MUST ABIDE BY ITS OWN LAWS!!

PLEASE SEND COPIES OF THE FOLLOWING LETTER TO YOUR SENATORS.


June __, 2000

Senator ___________________
[OFFICE ADDRESS]
Washington, D.C. [ZIP CODE]

Re: Representative Hansen's Anti-NEPA Insertion in Defense Authorization

Bill

Dear Senator __________:

I am writing to alert you to an outrageous amended provision that was
slipped in as section 312 of the House Defense Authorization Bill for
Fiscal Year 2001 (H.R. 4205), and which may be inserted in the Senate
Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2001.  The provision dictates

the dismissal of all pending and any potential lawsuits under NEPA
challenging any EIS that concerns low-level military flight training and

that has been prepared as of the date the provision is enacted.  In
addition, the provision dictates an atomistic scope of analysis for any
future NEPA case against military low-level flight training.

This provision was engineered by Representative Hansen of Utah and is
fueled by the military's misguided desire to avoid having a court
address the merits of a lawsuit filed earlier this year by the Western
Environmental Law Center on behalf of a broad coalition of ranchers,
outdoor recreationalists and outfitters, environmentalists and ordinary
citizens of rural areas.  The suit seeks to have the Air Force comply
with its duty under NEPA to prepare a comprehensive, programmatic EIS
for its entire low-level flight training program.  The fact that so
broad a coalition of citizens and organizations came together to bring
this lawsuit reflects the mounting, and increasingly widespread, anger
among residents of the West and other areas of the nation over the
military's refusal to acknowledge and address the deleterious cumulative

impacts of its vast network of low-level training routes and airspaces.

Let me explain the "Hansen" provision to you briefly.  It consists of
retrospective and prospective subsections.

The retrospective subsection dictates that all EISs for each low-level
training flight airspace, including each low-level route, that have been

prepared by the date of the Act's enactment are deemed to satisfy the
requirements of NEPA and its implementing regulations.  This subsection
has the improper purpose and effect of substituting Congress's judgment
for that of the Judiciary regarding the military's compliance with
NEPA.  If allowed to become law, it would eliminate all existing NEPA
claims regarding low-level flight training, both local challenges and
our lawsuit concerning the Air Force's entire low-level flight training
program.

The prospective subsection bluntly dictates that for NEPA purposes each
individual low-level flight training airspace and route must be
considered separately.  The purpose and effect of this subsection is to
dictate to the courts that the proper scope for NEPA analysis of
military low-level flight training must always be limited to each
separate proposal to add, expand or modify each individual low-level
flight training airspace.

Neither the retrospective or prospective subsection purports to amend
existing legislation or to enact new legislation that could be applied
to existing or future cases.  Rather, they both seek simply to intrude
on the Judiciary's special function of applying existing legislation to
specific facts.

Enactment of the "Hansen" provision would be a travesty of the
legislative process.  The provision will set a dangerous and radical
precedent for the Legislature usurping the Judiciary's function in plain

derogation of the separation of powers that lies at the core of our
constitutional system.

There have been reports that Representative Hansen has made some sort of

an agreement with Senators Inhofe of Oklahoma and Warner of Virginia to
have the same provision inserted into the Senate Defense Authorization
Bill for Fiscal Year 2001 (S. 2549, S. 2550), which is currently before
the Senate.  Certainly, so aggressive an intrusion on the courts must
not be allowed to pass without robust, thorough debate.

On behalf of ranchers, hunters, fishers, hikers, campers, birdwatchers,
outfitters and environmentalists from throughout the West and the rest
of the nation, I urge you to do all in your power to prevent this
misguided attempt to subvert our legal system from becoming law.

For your convenience I am attaching the text of the provision as passed
by the House.  Thank you for your attention to this matter.


Yours truly,



________________________________
[YOUR OR YOUR GROUP'S NAME]


HERE IS THE TEXT OF THE PROVISION:

H.R. 4205, Floyd D. Spence National Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2001

SEC. 312. NECESSITY OF MILITARY LOW-LEVEL FLIGHT TRAINING TO PROTECT
NATIONAL SECURITY AND ENHANCE MILITARY READINESS.

   (a) NECESSITY OF CURRENT TRAINING ROUTES AND AREAS-
The environmental impact statements completed as of the date of the
enactment of this Act for
each special use airspace designated by a military department for the
performance of low-level training flights, including each military
training route, slow speed route, military operations area, restricted
area, or low altitude tactical navigation area, are deemed to satisfy
the requirements of
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)
and regulations implementing such law for such special use airspace and
the use of such special use airspace established in such environmental
impact statements.

   (b) PROTECTING FUTURE FLEXIBILITY FOR LOW-LEVEL FLIGHT TRAINING -
On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, a proposal by a
military department to establish or to expand or otherwise modify a
special use airspace for low-level training flights shall be considered
separately to determine whether the proposal is a major Federal action
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment for
purposes of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969.




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