Federal court blocks timber sale in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest: “A federal judge has
blocked what would have been the largest timber sale in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest in decades. Wednesday’s ruling ends the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to open 37.5 square miles of old-growth forest on Prince of Wales Island to commercial logging, CoastAlaska
reported. The ruling by Judge Sharon L. Gleason also stops road construction for the planned 15-year project. Conservationists had already successfully blocked the federal government’s attempt to clear large amounts of timber for sale without identifying specific
areas where logging would have occurred. Gleason allowed the forest service to argue in favor of correcting deficiencies in its review and moving forward without throwing out the entire project, but ultimately ruled against the agency. Gleason's ruling said
the economic harm of invalidating the timber sales did not outweigh "the seriousness of the errors" in the agency's handling of the project. The method used in the Prince of Wales Landscape Level Analysis was the first time the agency used it for environmental
review on an Alaska timber sale. The forest service, which can appeal the decision, did not return calls seeking comment. Gleason's decision affects the Prince of Wales Island project and the Central Tongass Project near Petersburg and Wrangell. The ruling
triggers a new environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act, said Meredith Trainor, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. The ruling in the lawsuit brought by the council includes a requirement for public input
on specific areas proposed for logging, Trainor said.”
[AP, 6/25/20]
https://bit.ly/2BCa2Uv
McEachin leads effort regarding environmental reviews: “Congressman A. Donald McEachin (VA-04)
announced his letter urging the Trump administration to immediately withdraw an executive order that seeks to allow development projects to bypass key environmental reviews that are required by law. These reviews are intended to protect communities across
this country from potential adverse environmental effects. President Trump’s June 4 Executive Order, issued under the guise of an “emergency order” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would sidestep environmental review requirements under the National Environmental
Protection Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Endangered Species Act to speed approval for transportation, civil works and other infrastructure projects. “The president’s decision to gut the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) is yet another
attack on low-income communities and communities of color,” said McEachin. For decades, environmental justice communities have suffered from our nation’s legacy of environmental racism and injustice, and NEPA has been a critical tool to ensure their voices
are heard in the decision-making processes directly impacting their lives. As Americans demand justice, the President is hellbent on silencing the voices of low-income communities and communities of color on the frontlines of our climate crisis. He should
abandon this foolish and potentially deadly action.” In a letter signed by 76 of their colleagues, McEachin and and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Mike Levin (CA-49), Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del-At Large) and Katie Porter (CA-45) argued
that the order would cause undue harm to communities impacted by poor water and air quality while negatively impacting the “overall health and safety” of these frontline communities.”
[Augusta Free Press, 6/25/20]
https://bit.ly/3g2j6B7
Murkowski looks to pass minerals legislation this year: “The coronavirus pandemic has poked
holes in global supply chains and stressed the need to source minerals vital to clean energy development domestically, experts told a Senate panel yesterday. And lawmakers who support a legislation solution say that's another reason for Congress to act this
year. China and increasingly Europe are outpacing the United States in the race to invest in supply chains for the lithium-ion batteries that fuel electric vehicles, witnesses told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "The United States is getting
lapped," said Joe Bryan, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center and former Navy deputy assistant secretary. The United States is heavily reliant on imports for graphite, manganese, cobalt and other minerals used in batteries, military
applications, cellphones and health care. Fourteen of the Trump administration's list of 35 "critical minerals" come exclusively from abroad, namely from China. ENR Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said disruptions to supply chains for medical items like
personal protective equipment amid the pandemic should be a "wake-up call for all of us." Not only is China a major mineral producer, it also dominates downstream lithium-ion battery manufacturing. The number of supersize battery plants — or megafactories
— in China has risen from nine to 107 since 2017. In the United States, that number has tripled to nine. Three of those are active, said Simon Moores, managing director at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. "China is building the equivalent of one battery megafactory
a week. The USA: one every four months," said Moores, who has worked closely with Murkowski on mineral supply chain issues. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) proposed paying a premium for domestically sourced minerals as an insurance policy for potential supply chain
disruptions.”
[E&E News, 6/25/20]
https://bit.ly/380pWUH
Questions surround Pebble Mine’s environmental review: “Just months away from deciding whether
to permit construction of the proposed Pebble Mine, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is wrapping up its environmental review. In early April, USACE received the last round of feedback from a selection of federal, state, local, and tribal groups. Some
of that feedback—recently acquired and released by the Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) using the Freedom of Information Act—is quite pointed. Reviewing the released critiques, Dennis McLerran, who from 2010 to 2017 ran the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) office in the region that includes Alaska, says that stakeholder agencies think USACE is taking too narrow of a view of the Pebble Mine’s potential environmental impacts, and isn’t addressing fundamental issues with the project even at this late
stage. The Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) plans to build an open-pit mine in a largely undeveloped stretch of southwest Alaska to extract a fraction of what may be the world’s biggest unexploited deposit of copper and gold. The proposed site for the mine
lies under two rivers that drain into Bristol Bay, home to one of the world’s most productive wild salmon fisheries. That geography has contributed to a long and heated battle over the proposed mine, which has gained new momentum under the Trump administration.
The comments released by the BBNC—an organization representing Indigenous people with present or historical ties to the Bristol Bay region—come from a number of expert agencies including the EPA, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Alaska Department
of Natural Resources, as well as the Curyung and Nondalton tribal councils, whose members live in the vicinity of the proposed mine. This stakeholder feedback, usually kept confidential, was given to USACE as part of its ongoing environmental impact assessment.
The BBNC has been a vocal opponent of the mine since 2009.”
[High Country News, 6/25/20]
https://bit.ly/2YyOAsB
Pentagon relies on 25-year-old environmental justice plan: “The Department of Defense has
an environmental justice strategy to guide its response to health and environmental impacts on minorities and low-income communities — but it's 25 years old. DOD issued the strategy in March 1995, after a Clinton administration executive order the previous
year directed federal agencies to focus on environmental justice efforts and create interagency working groups dedicated to communicating with the public. "I think at the time, it was really a new subject within the Department of Defense. It was an important
subject," said Sherri Goodman, who led the effort to develop the environmental justice plan as deputy undersecretary of Defense for environmental security. "This is before the climate era, really, but the environmental concerns then were contamination from
hazardous waste from Superfund sites," said Goodman, who served at DOD from 1993 to 2001 and is now a senior fellow at the Center for Climate and Security and the Wilson Center. It's time to update the strategy, she said. "I think the one that we developed
in 1995 is a good foundation on which to build." For communities living near DOD installations, the time to update the environmental justice plan is long past. Diana Lopez, 34, grew up around the former site of the Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
She said she's witnessed the suffering of predominantly Latino and low-income people in her community from multiple illnesses.”
[E&E News, 6/25/20]
https://bit.ly/2BJ0KGb
Biden signals willingness to use 'unfettered discretion' to reject pipelines: “Joe Biden
is signaling he would make it difficult for developers to obtain federal permits to build fossil fuel infrastructure such as pipelines and liquefied natural gas export facilities, delivering on a key priority of environmental groups. “There is virtually unfettered
discretion there, so long as procedural safeguards are observed,” said Glenn Schwartz, director of policy at Rapidan Energy Group, a consultancy firm. As his chief tool to curb pipelines and LNG export terminals, Biden could require thorough and lengthy reviews
to determine whether a project’s economic value is outweighed by its contribution to climate change. Biden’s official plan to address climate change commits “that every federal infrastructure investment should reduce climate pollution" and requires “any federal
permitting decision to consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.” “Biden’s assessment and protocols he will put around potential fossil projects is absolutely spot on,” said Jane Kleeb, chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party
and a leading grassroots organizer against pipelines. “We can't keep developing fossil fuel projects and also think we are solving climate change. Those can't be on parallel tracks.” The threats are scaring the fossil fuel industry and its allies, who have
already complained of lengthier development processes due to opposition from environmental groups. Activists have had success stymying projects in the courts, leading to complaints from industry that, despite a significant build-out of pipelines this past
decade to serve the shale boom, there remain shortages in parts of the country such as the Northeast. Interstate natural gas pipeline developers have proposed $30 billion in new investment through 2025, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, a sustainability
nonprofit organization.”
[Washington Examiner, 6/25/20]
https://washex.am/2B9idb2
Wi-Fi in the Wilderness: “The National Park Service has a different attitude toward cellular
technology: The agency has opted to embrace expanded connectivity as an important visitor amenity. The Park Service is in the midst of a sweeping build-out of new cellphone and wireless sites across many of the 62 national parks—everything from minuscule antennae
affixed to existing buildings to hundred-foot towers to wi-fi hubs. Grand Teton National Park is in the process of permitting the largest cell-site expansion in NPS history, with nine new wireless communication sites slated for construction—on top of the two
already in place—and plans to install 60 miles of fiber-optic cable to supply the needed bandwidth. Earlier this year, Glacier National Park announced its intention to build at least four new towers, while Grand Canyon may have as many as five sprouting from
the South and North Rims. At Sequoia National Park, officials are proceeding with the construction of a 138-foot tower intended to resemble a tree. New towers are in the offing at Olympic and Bryce Canyon as well as Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Already,
visitors are able to get five bars in the developed areas of our oldest park, Yellowstone, and can pick up "spillover signals" across much of the 3,500-square-mile park's wild backcountry. The most vocal and dogged opponent of the cellular build-out is Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which over the past decade has barraged the Park Service with complaints, Freedom of Information Act requests, and, when ignored, FOIA lawsuits regarding its cell-siting decisions. The group has documented
the agency's troubling pattern of ignoring the federal laws—specifically the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act—designed to protect public lands from overdevelopment. According to PEER, the Park Service's telecom policy
is "myopic and lawless" and a threat to "scenery," "soundscapes," and what the group calls "serenity values.’”
[Sierra Club, 6/25/20]
https://bit.ly/2NzQzq5
Del Mar school district faces lawsuit over environmental review of Heights rebuild: “The
group Save the Field has filed a petition for a writ of mandate in San Diego County Superior Court against the Del Mar Union School District to revoke the approval of the Del Mar Heights School rebuild, its environmental document and suspend any activity in
pursuit of the rebuild. As of now, the rebuild continues moving forward—Heights teachers and staff have packed up the school and demolition is expected to begin in July. The district is in the process of working with the city on a Coastal Development Permit
and at its regular board meeting on June 24, the board is expected to discuss the next steps with contractor Balfour Beatty. The June 12 filing alleges that the district’s California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process was “flawed from the beginning,
resulting in an incomplete and inaccurate environmental review with a mitigated negative declaration”(MND). Save the Field alleges that the MND failed to analyze the project’s environmental impacts on air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, biological resources,
public services and recreation and further fails to address the project’s impacts on wildfire and emergency fire access given the school’s proximity to a “Very High Fire Severity Zone,” as determined by CalFire. “Despite the significantly expanded footprint,
the school’s location in a coastal zone, and the adjacent Torrey Pines State Reserve, the district’s MND concluded that there were no significant—or even potentially significant—environmental impacts as a result of the rebuild project,” the writ states. The
filing states that the district violated CEQA by failing to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and argues that the district must prepare an EIR that properly describes the rebuild, analyzes its impacts and considers alternatives to reduce those impacts.”
[Del Mar Times, 6/25/20]
https://bit.ly/2BaHzoP
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.