Sansonette Discusses Environmental Act Changes

Casper, WY – The Bush Administration is revisiting the various aspects of N-E-P-A, the National Environmental Policy Act, hoping to improve and modernize it. N-E-P-A governs how public lands rules are made and is why those bukly environmental impact statements come with any federal project. Wyomingite Tom Sansonetti is quit familiar with N-E-P-A. He runs the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the U-S Justice Department. Because of frequent lawsuits, Sansonetti says agencies often try to identify every possible impact of a project, consuming already limited resources. He says the purpose of the law is to get federal agencies to think before acting. Sansonetti believes they can accomplish that goal without all the detailed information. He believes N-E-P-A could be improved by limiting the length of E-I-S's and mandating that cases be heard by courts that are located where the impact occurs.