Dan Sealy, NEC Legislative Analyst
Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, has ordered the National Park Service to phase out plastics, both single-use containers and utensils as well as other plastic materials. It will take some time to change contracts and look for alternatives. “Our national parks, by definition, are protected areas — ones that Americans have loved for their natural beauty and history for over a century — and yet we have failed to protect them from plastic for far too long,” said Christy Leavitt, director of plastics reduction work for the nonprofit environmental organization Oceana. Under the Obama administration 23 National Parks were directed to eliminate single-use water bottles but the plastic bottle lobby succeeded in reversing that order under direction of Secretary Zinke, who departed the Department under ethics investigations.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed H.R. 7776, the “Water Resources Development Act of 2022,” a large water infrastructure bill, while the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved S. 4137, its version of the House bill; both with unanimous committee support. Differences in the two versions will be resolved and some projects could be dropped. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California system is referenced several times in the bills.
Though skeptics advise caution, there is some hopeful news. Chevron unveiled plans for a new “carbon capture and storage” project in the San Joaquin Valley project which, if successful, could capture up to 300,000 metric tons of carbon per year.
The captured CO2 would be transported via pipeline to an area of Chevron’s Kern River oil field and stored in deep saline aquifers. The impacts of this are not fully researched but supporters say any carbon removed from the atmosphere is a positive step as long as there is a net carbon reduction.
Though there were many positive provisions in the Infrastructure Bill of 2022, one provision to “streamline” federal infrastructure projects includes measures to reduce public oversight of projects by requiring federal agencies to coordinate, and requiring project timeline designation of a lead agency for the NEPA review process to be completed within two years from the publication of the notice of intent, pursuant to a schedule developed by the lead agency. The process also requires the generation of a “record of decision” within 90 days of the agencies’ issuance of the final Environmental Impact Statement. Although the administration says they are striving to hasten the process, they also do not want to sacrifice environmental standards. This will require conservation advocates to quickly and carefully review all documents with short turnaround times. Those deadlines can become excuses to cut corners and limit public review and comment.
The streamlined process may hasten offshore wind project approval. Conservationists routinely file lawsuits on short timelines to allow more thorough public review and comment as well as assuring all relevant science and impacts have been covered. Biden Administration spokesperson Jason Miller stated, “This plan explicitly rejects the tired view that there’s an inherent tradeoff between permitting efficiency — doing permitting in a timely and predictable manner — with permitting effectively, ensuring the best outcomes for the community and the environment. We can and we will do both.” Time will tell but past efforts have been controversial, and some have failed the test in courts.
After the US Department of Energy announced an extension to the deadline to apply to extend funding for nuclear power plants that are targeted for decommissioning, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) sent a letter to Energy Sec. Granholm requesting that the Department revise requirements so the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power plant can apply for funds from the $6 billion targeted for nuclear plants in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The new deadline is July 5. As a reminder, there is still no approved plan for permanent storage facilities for radioactive waste.
Congressman Huffman’s (D-CA) efforts to update the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Act has been delayed due to the death of Rep. Don Young (R-AK) and is awaiting a permanent replacement since Young was also a leader in the discussion and introduction of bills. This Act has been key to the rebound of overfished populations of commercially harvested fish.
In good news for migratory birds, Sen. Cardin (D-MD) and Sen. (R-OH) introduced Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2022, S. 4187, a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA). The bill would provide a four-fold increase in funding to help conserve species of neotropical and other migratory birds, many of which are in rapid decline.
“The NMBCA provides essential support to Latin American and Caribbean partners who ensure migratory birds have a place to return in winter after breeding in the U.S. – such as the Cerulean Warbler and Wood Thrush,” said Steve Holmer, Vice President of Policy at American Bird Conservancy (ABC). “By increasing NMBCA funding, the door is opened to greater participation from partner groups, as well as larger projects that are more effective at meeting bird conservation needs.”
The mission of the Northcoast Environmental Center is to promote understanding of the relations between people and the biosphere and to conserve, protect, and celebrate terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems of northern California and southern Oregon.