On March 6, 2020, Y2U and a host of other organizations wrote to the Council on Environmental Quality to oppose weakening the National Environmental Policy Act, which is a key tool for organizations like Y2U, as well as every day citizens, to be involved in decision making processes when it comes to conservation and development. All of the endorsers of this comment letter have significant experience with NEPA, in that we regularly review and comment on projects, plans, and policies proposed by federal agencies, primarily the USDA Forest Service and USDI Bureau of Land Management. We believe that strong NEPA is essential to ensure conservation of the nation’s natural resources and for ensuring public involvement in decisions affecting these resources.
While we agree that some modernization of the current rule would be appropriate, the proposed rule is simply unacceptable. It would reduce requirements for agencies to consider all impacts of their proposals and weaken application of NEPA across the board. Removing the requirement to consider cumulative impacts is especially egregious. The rule must not be finalized in anything resembling its current form.