When Public Comments Aren’t Public: Land Agency Holding Records: “Usually when public comments
are filed with a federal agency, they are made, well, public. Not so for the Bureau of Land Management, which is demanding that in some cases, such comments only be obtained through the cumbersome Freedom of Information Act. Critics say the BLM’s action is
part of a pattern shaping up in the Interior Department over the past year or more of delaying or denying requests for basic information from journalists and the public. At issue this time are “public scoping” comments related to a far-reaching grazing rule,
a draft of which is expected to be published this summer. The rule will affect livestock use, water quality, wildfire, endangered species, and control of 154 million acres of federal land in 13 states. The agency is spurning its obligation under the National
Environmental Policy Act to make writing new rules a fully open process, environmental groups say. “NEPA is a transparency rule, and putting comments in a vault and making it difficult to access seems to run contrary to the purpose of the statute,” said Ted
Zukoski, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. The BLM, which oversees more than 250 million acres of federal land mostly in the West, is the nation’s largest single land manager and is in charge of federal oil,
gas, and coal leasing—essential elements of the Trump administration’s fossil fuels-focused energy agenda.”
[Bloomberg, 6/24/20]
https://bit.ly/2ZjzN4n
Trump administration to cut Idaho forests: “Trump’s Agriculture Department has signed agreements
with 12 state governments mandating “fuel reduction” and “restoration” treatments on national and state forests. With deceptive semantics, skewed science and timber town economics, the result will be tree cutting on a broad scale. On the flip side, scientists
say forest preservation has a critical role in averting a climate catastrophe. Herein lies a call to action: The new armies of climate activists should direct some attention and support to the work of veteran forest protectors. Idaho was the first of eight
Western states and four Eastern states to adopt the Trump USDA program called Shared Stewardship (see fs.usda.gov, “managing the land”). In each state, it’s a collaboration of stakeholders, heavily stacked with those favoring expanded logging. Stated goals
of this initiative are “treatments to suppress forest fire, promote forest health and create jobs.” The U.S. Forest Service, the administrator of the program, has a history of such “treatments”—it’s logging in various forms, and always has a money motive.
Idaho’s collaborative initiative includes a token enviro group with a record of being soft on logging, the Idaho Conservation League. This is another example of Trump’s reversing everything progressive or green: turning the EPA against the environment, rolling
back regulations to protect clean water and public health and choking off the National Environmental Policy Act, our bedrock environmental law. Trump’s base and local economies favor lifting regulations; it saves otherwise obsolete jobs while turning trees
into cash.”
[Idaho Mountain Express, 6/24/20]
https://bit.ly/2Z6qiFu
18 states to Supreme Court: Unfreeze Army Corps permits: “Eighteen states say it is "critical"
for the Supreme Court to intervene in a circuit court case and allow the use of a key Army Corps of Engineers water crossing permit for new oil and gas pipelines pending an appeal. The states, led by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R), said
that developers of new oil and gas pipelines face a "lose-lose proposition" if an order from a lower court temporarily blocking the use of the streamlined Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12) program is allowed to remain in place as the Army Corps appeals the decision
in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. NWP 12 allows projects that meet a certain set of criteria to use an expedited permitting process for the approval of dredge-and-fill activities in waterways, rather than pursue more rigorous individual permits for
each water crossing in a project. The states said pipeline developers are choosing between "sinking time and money into the individual permitting process, or they could wait to start construction until the Corps' position is ultimately vindicated," the states
wrote in a proposed "friend of the court" brief. "Either option will potentially add years to the timelines of projects that require substantial capital investment." They pointed to permitting processing estimates that found individual permits took 788 days
and $271,596 to complete, compared with the average NWP 12 applicant who spent 313 days and $28,915. If all new pipelines are diverted to individual permits, those timelines would slow down further, they warned.”
[E&E News, 6/24/20]
Legal battles plague Permian Basin gas pipeline, locals fear damage to drinking water: “Legal
battles continued to grow against a natural gas pipeline that would transport gas from the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast, as the Sierra Club filed a motion calling for construction of the line to be ceased, citing a lack of environmental oversight and potential
harm that could be caused along the project’s path. The Sierra Club first filed suit in April against the Army Corps of Engineers seeking to invalidate the permitting granted to the Permian Highway Pipeline for its operation. A request for comment from the
Army Corps of Engineers was not returned on Tuesday. On Friday, the organization also filed a motion for an injunction that would stop construction of the pipeline until oversight requirements were met under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The
Permian Highway Pipeline was established in June 2018 through a joint venture of Kinder Morgan, EagleClaw Midstream Ventures and the Apache Corporation. Construction began in March for pipeline which would stretch about 430 miles from the Waha Hub in West
Texas to the Gulf Coast export markets, with a capacity of up to 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. The line was expected to go into service in 2021. It was hailed by oil and gas industry leaders as a means to address the Permian Basin's carry capacity
constraints, but challenged by environmentalists as a threat to the local environment and groundwater sources along the route.”
[Carlsbad Current Argus, 6/24/20]
https://bit.ly/2Nqx4Ar
Daines bill would undo 9th Circuit ruling on thinning: “Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines
will introduce legislation today to remove a potential roadblock to forest management projects on federal land. Daines' bill would remove a requirement — imposed as a result of a lawsuit five years ago — that the Forest Service consult with the Fish and Wildlife
Service on land management plans when "new information" emerges about potential effects on endangered species. In practice, the requirement means the Forest Service must reconsult with the Fish and Wildlife Service on forest management plans that have often
been in place for years, even when a specific project isn't in question. That takes resources away from other missions, even though the Forest Service would always consult on specific project if new information about endangered species surfaces, Forest Service
Chief Vicki Christiansen has said. At issue is a 2015 case in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Forest Service v. Cottonwood Environmental Law Center. In that case, the court found that the Forest Service hadn't adequately consulted with the Fish and
Wildlife Service about potential threats to the habitat of the Canada lynx. Since then, Daines has been trying to overturn the case through legislation. He has allies on the Democratic side and has pointed to the Obama administration's objections to the scope
of the decision. Both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have said they agree with his goal. Still, Daines' efforts haven't gone far, as he looks for a legislative vehicle and works around the objections of environmental groups to gain Democratic
backers.”
[E&E News, 6/24/20]
https://bit.ly/3hX9r0n
Justin McCarthy
Director, NEPA Campaign
The Partnership Project
1612 K St, NW
Washington, DC 20006 USA
C: (540) 312-3797
E: jmccarthy@partnershipproject.org
The Partnership Project, a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit, is a collaborative effort of over 20 of the country’s most influential advocacy organizations, including Sierra Club, Earthjustice, League of Conservation Voters, and Natural
Resources Defense Council.