[CPEO-MEF] Bush tweaking key environmental act

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Bush tweaking key environmental act
Critics: Exceptions will weaken law
BY SETH BORENSTEIN
sborenstein@krwashington.com

WASHINGTON - Bit by bit, the Bush administration is carving out
exceptions to a law that is widely regarded as the legal cornerstone of
environmental protection.

The law is the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. It requires
the government to study systematically all environmental impacts that a
federal project would have, weigh alternatives and take public comments
into account before going forward.

NEPA's requirement for ''environmental-impact statements'' has resulted
in the delay, cancellation or alteration of many federal projects over
the years -- such as roads, dams and airports -- in the name of
protecting nature from unnecessary despoilment.

The policy is ''the Magna Carta of all the environmental laws,'' said
University of Vermont law Professor Patrick Parenteau. It is now the
model for more than 100 other nations.

But in the name of improving efficiency, the Bush administration wants
to change the way the policy works. Environmental groups say the
proposed changes amount to a devastating attack on the law.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/4207613.htm

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