Washington, D.C. - Today, Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Peter DeFazio (D-OR) responded to a recently released report from GAO about the costs and benefits of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses. The report found that NEPA results in better decision making at federal agencies and improved public input that ultimately makes for better federal projects.
“The GAO report confirms what many NEPA supporters have argued for years. NEPA gives the public a chance to engage their government in the democratic process, it holds the government more accountable, and it ultimately makes federal projects more efficient, which saves agency time and taxpayer dollars. NEPA isn’t perfect, but this report confirms that it is working and that the benefits far exceed the minimal cost," said DeFazio.
The report debunked several Republican myths about NEPA. Despite the majority’s claims that NEPA results in costly litigation, available data shows that most NEPA analyses do not result in litigation. When they do, the Federal Government usually prevails. In 2011, the most recent data available, the Council for Environmental Quality reported that there were a total of 94 NEPA cases brought while thousands of NEPA analyses were conducted.
The report comes in response to a 2013 request by House Natural Resource Committee Republicans to examine the costs of NEPA analyses. In order to secure a broader and more balanced look at the law, the Democrats added their own request for a review of the benefits of NEPA analyses. GAO merged the requests, and released the final report, which can be viewed here today.
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