Clean Water Action: Gutting National Environmental Policy Act Recipe for Disaster

WASHINGTON, July 16 -- Clean Water Action issued the following statement by President and CEO Bob Wendelgass:

President Trump announced a dramatic rollback to the National Environmental Policy Act, a critical law that has ensured public input during reviews of infrastructure projects that could impact the health and well-being of communities throughout the nation. The changes to NEPA reduce opportunities for people to weigh in, limit environmental reviews, and allow project sponsors to ignore potential climate change impacts.

* * *

"If it wasn't clear that the Trump administration cares more about protecting the profits of corporate special interests than safeguarding communities across the country, it should be now.

"The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a critical law that ensures people have a voice during the review process of projects that could impact the health, environment, and economic wellbeing of their communities.

"It ensures that more than just industry profits drive decisions about where and how to build infrastructure and has protected neighborhoods across the nation from potentially devastating projects for decades.

"It's an especially important tool for Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color, many of which have long been overburdened by polluting facilities in their neighborhoods.

Making it more difficult for people to speak out and eliminating requirements to consider climate change impacts is a recipe for disaster. We don't need another rubberstamp that allows corporate polluters to do as they please. Gutting NEPA is a huge win for fossil fuel executives and developers, and a slap in the face to the communities most impacted by large projects."