BLM takes steps toward seismic testing in ANWR: “The Bureau of Land Management appears to
be moving forward on an application to conduct seismic testing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). BLM's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) register currently indicates that the agency is in the "preparation and planning" stage on a proposal
by SAExploration Inc. to gauge the hydrocarbon potential of the ANWR coastal plain. BLM has yet to complete its broader analysis of a program to hold two lease sales in the 1.6-million-acre region, which is also known as the 1002 Area. SAExploration proposes
to begin seismic exploration this winter, deploying two camps of up to 160 workers throughout the coastal plain, according to a seven-page document included in the NEPA register. The separation of the seismic proposal from the leasing process raised concerns
among conservation advocates, who have called to keep oil and gas development out of ANWR altogether. "The seismic part of this work should be part of the overall leasing environmental impact statement," said Nicole Whittington-Evans, Alaska regional director
for the Wilderness Society. "To separate it out is really an unfortunate way to move forward." Defenders of Wildlife criticized the SAExploration proposal for interfering with essential wildlife needs. "Polar bear conservation is incompatible with the environmental
destruction that oil rigs will bring to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," said Jenny Keatinge, senior federal lands policy analyst for the environmental group. "We join the majority of Americans in opposing fossil fuel development, including destructive
seismic testing, in the most important onshore denning habitat for this imperiled species in the United States." BLM did not respond to a request for comment.”
[E&E News, 7/25/18]
https://goo.gl/Hgex9u
DOE streamlines small-scale LNG exports: “The Trump administration just made it easier to
export small amounts of natural gas around the world. The Department of Energy this morning published its final rule expediting the approval of small-scale liquefied natural gas exports. The rule applies to LNG shipments destined for countries without free-trade
agreements (FTA) with the United States, which have generally been subject to a higher degree of agency scrutiny. The agency expects the rule to streamline export applications for LNG en route to "non-FTA" countries in the Caribbean, Central America and South
America. Applications for exports to free-trade partners already receive expedited approval. "DOE believes that facilitating small-scale natural gas exports will allow for greater diversity and competition in the natural gas market, consistent with the public
interest under [the Natural Gas Act]," the agency said in the new rule. The streamlining effort fits with the Trump administration's broader "energy dominance" policy. Under the rule, which was first proposed a year ago, export applications will receive expedited
approval so long as they represent no more than 51.75 billion cubic feet of gas per year and do not trigger fresh review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The regulation, which takes effect next month, deems those applications "consistent with the
public interest" under a standard set by the Natural Gas Act. DOE will not provide public notice for each approval. "DOE has thoroughly analyzed the many factors affecting the export of U.S. natural gas, as well as the unique characteristics and minimal adverse
impacts of the emerging small-scale natural gas market," the agency said. "On this basis, DOE has determined that this rule is consistent with both [the Natural Gas Act] and DOE's established practice in authorizing such exports.’”
[E&E News, 7/25/18]
https://goo.gl/yq9EjH
Gianforte, ranchers call for regulatory reform to protect grazing allotments: “Fear of litigation,
not stewardship of the land, is driving the management of federal grazing allotments, a third-generation Ruby Valley sheep and wool producer told a U.S. House subcommittee on Tuesday. John Helle, owner and partner of Helle Livestock, testified at the behest
of Montana Rep. Greg Gianforte, who chairs the Interior, Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “One of the greatest challenges to grazing is special interest litigation and the abuse of environmental legislation,”
the first-term congressman said. “These groups do not support the agencies’ multiple-use missions.” “Some special interests fundamentally oppose grazing and routinely turn to litigation rather than cooperation,” Gianforte said. “This distracts the BLM and
the Forest Service from their missions, and results in land management decisions driven by fear and apprehension of the next wave of lawsuits.” The intent of Tuesday’s “conversation,” he said, was to “preserve the opportunity for grazing while ensuring” other
uses of public land as well – including “hikers, hunters and fishermen.” Without regulatory reform, Gianforte said, the litigation, uncertainty and delays “could force many ranchers to walk away from their business” – a “devastating consequence.” In fiscal
2017, livestock producers held almost 18,000 grazing permits on BLM and nearly 6,000 operating permits on Forest Service lands, producing food, wool and clothing. But the Nez Perce also value their traditional hunting of bighorn sheep, tens of thousands of
which once thrived in their homeland’s steep canyons. Those herds have been decimated since the arrival of white settlers, and now the threat of pneumonia that wild sheep contract from domestic herds, Wheeler told the subcommittee. The disease can kill 80
percent or more of a wild bighorn herd. Wheeler said he was “here to speak for the bighorn because it cannot speak for itself.” “Our canyonlands and ridges remain suitable habitat for bighorn sheep, yet they have been depleted,” he said. “Pneumonia is the
culprit, transmitted from domestic sheep. These wild animals cannot share the range with domestic sheep.” Where livestock grazing occurs irresponsibly, Wheeler said, “our treaty rights are affected.”…
Both Eliason and Helle joined Gianforte in calling for changes to the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act and the expansion of so-called categorical exclusions for
the review of individual grazing allotments. “Most grazing allotments have been sustainably grazed by ranching families for half a century or longer,” said Scott Horngren, staff attorney for the Western Resources Legal Center. “Ranchers should be able to renew
their allotments if the rangeland is in satisfactory condition, using a categorical exclusion rather than a full environmental analysis.’”
[Missoula Current, 7/25/18]
https://goo.gl/JC7UdF
Over $10 million spent on new Cape Fear bridge planning, no funding to build yet:
“State and local governments have spent over $10 million on planning and studies for the proposed Cape Fear Crossing project – but there’s still no sign of at least $1 billion needed
to actually build it. Originally dubbed the Cape Fear Skyway, the project was moved to the back burner by the state five years ago. But despite the completion of a third bridge over the Cape Fear River – built as part of the I-140 extension – the Isabel Holmes
and Cape Fear Memorial bridges remain overwhelmed; further, the roads and intersections leading up to them are increasing overtaxed. According to the NCDOT’s traffic analysis, released at the end of June, by 2040 dozens of stretches of road and intersections
on the network connecting New Hanover and Brunswick County will be operating at severely impaired levels of service. Some, like College Road at Oleander Drive, will suffer from F levels of service in just about every direction, morning and night. In 2013,
the General Assembly defunded the project, although money remained for planning and impact studies – including traffic and environmental analyses. Currently, the Cape Fear Crossing is not part of the NCDOT’s 2018-2027 State Transportation Improvement Plan,
its ten-year plan to prioritize major capital projects including those with federal funding. To date, the NCDOT has spent $9.3 million dollars, of which about $8.5 million was consultant charges, according to an email from Ray McIntyre, the NCDOT’s STIP Eastern
Regional Manager. Those costs also include nearly $5 million for studies as part of the National Environmental Policy Act, environmental impact reviews required before federal funding can be assigned to a projected. NEPA costs have so far included $900,000
for technical analysis, $925,000 for “natural systems investigation,” an inventory of natural resources impacted by the project, and $525,000 for project management.”
[Port City Daily, 7/25/18]
https://goo.gl/j8BMuT
Scientists Decry the Border Wall’s Harm to Wildlife: “More than 2,500 scientists from the
United States, Mexico, and around the globe signed a paper published on Tuesday in the journal BioScience, warning that barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border are causing harm to biodiversity and that the continuous wall urged by President Trump would magnify
this harm. The scientists, hailing from 43 different countries, called on the U.S. government to consider the ramifications of the wall for wildlife populations and not to reverse past investments in binational cooperation toward conserving the borderlands.
“We are trying to give a voice to the species, to the animals and plants that live in the borderlands areas, because people tend to think it’s just a barren area with no life,” Jennifer Miller, a co-author of the paper and a senior scientist at the conversation
group Defenders of Wildlife, told CityLab. The U.S.-Mexico borderlands cover six eco-regions and support abundant wildlife. The border bisects the ranges of some 1,500 native animal and plant species, including 62 listed as critically endangered, endangered,
or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. The Real ID Act, which Congress passed back in 2005, allows the DHS to waive any laws that slow the wall’s construction in the name of national security. With exemptions to
laws like the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) possible, wall construction can go ahead without analyses of environmental impacts or a search for less damaging strategies. DHS has issued eight waivers since 2005 in
each of the U.S. border states, which includes three issued by the Trump administration in 2017 for California and New Mexico border construction. The authors of the BioScience paper “urgently advise” four measures. First, they call on Congress to require
adherence to all environmental laws in any future appropriations for border construction and operations, and to bar waivers. For areas where waivers have already been issued, they say DHS should analyze impacts and mitigate negative effects. They also want
DHS to perform “rigorous pre-planning and pre-implementation surveys to identify species, habitats, and ecological resources at risk,” as well as mitigate “as completely as possible any environmental harm resulting from projects.” Finally, they urge DHS to
facilitate scientific research in the borderlands.
[CityLab, 7/24/18]
https://goo.gl/1bohwT
Justin McCarthy
Communications Director, NEPA Campaign
The Partnership Project
1101 Connecticut Ave NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20036 USA
T: (202) 650-0327
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, Defenders
of Wildlife, League of Conservation Voters, Earthjustice, and Natural Resources Defense Council.