National teleconference this Thursday, May 24th
Hosted by Transit Riders for Public Transportation (Labor/Community Strategy Center)

The U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are currently meeting in conference committee and debating The Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill. They have proposed egregious anti-environment provisions including extreme gutting of environmental protections under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and de-regulation of toxic waste from coal production. The House Republicans have also restored the Keystone Pipeline proposal, which had previously been suspended after countless efforts by the movement. Some of these provisions would roll back decades of hard fought environmental protections that provide EJ communities with vital legal and public participation tools in the name of proposed "project streamlining." 

Dangerous provisions include:

• Mandate for federal approval of the environmentally devastating Keystone XL oil pipeline!

• Exempts any road, highway or bridge reconstruction from environmental review under NEPA and several other laws if rebuilt in the wake of an emergency

• Arbitrarily and entirely waives environmental reviews for all projects costing less than $10,000,000 or where the federal funding is less than 15% of the entire project. This would effectively shut the public out of decisions where tens of millions of dollars are spent affecting the safety, health, and environment of our communities

• Severely limits consideration of potentially cost-saving and environmentally friendly alternatives, as well as the "no action alternative" to potentially racially discriminatory or toxic projects

• Attempts to statutorily prevent judicial review, including further reducing the time to file a civil rights or environmental justice complaint from what was originally six years to 90 days.

The call will be held this Thursday, May 24th at 4 PM EST, 3 PM CST, 1 PM PST. The call in number is (866) 453-5550. code 4847402#

To reach the coordinator or get subscribed for updates, please contact info@transitriders.net

To read more about the NEPA concerns