RE: Support and fully fund the National Environmental Policy Act

Dear Senator ,

I strongly oppose any changes to or weakening of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and I urge you to do everything you possibly can to maintain, fully fund, and eliminate any exceptions to this extremely important law.

NEPA ensures that the best science will be used to design federal projects and minimize damage to public health and public resources. NEPA also ensures that the public - taxpayers, the owners of public lands and resources - fully participate in decision making about how our tax dollars are spent. And NEPA ensures that federal agencies consider alternatives in order to design projects that minimize risk.

By minimizing risk and catching bad projects before they are implemented, NEPA avoids unnecessary damage to public health and the environment, as well as costly lawsuits and controversy. NEPA is integral to our democracy. It costs money and it takes time, but so do most worthwhile endeavors, including democracy itself!

Chronic and severe underfunding and understaffing of the agencies that implement NEPA--not the provisions of the law itself--are the greatest barrier to timely and complete NEPA analyses. Underfunding and understaffing also contribute to the inadequacy of many NEPA analyses, which leads to unnecessary controversy and even litigation. Instead of weakening the law, Congress should increase funding for implementation of the law so that it can function expeditiously and effectively.

Please do whatever it takes to protect a strong NEPA and to fully fund it!

Most Sincerely,

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