04/18/05 NEPA Hearing in Spokane this week

04/18/05 NEPA Hearing in Spokane this week

Washington Ag April 18, 2005 Spokane will be the site this coming Saturday of a field hearing by a special task force of the U.S. House Resource Committee to review the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.. Washington's 5th District Congresswoman Kathy McMorris, was selected by Committee Chairman Richard Pombo to lead that task force. Congresswoman McMorris says the NEPA process has had a dramatic impact on the resource based economy of the Pacific Northwest. Matt Streit, Resource Committee deputy communications director, sums up what NEPA is and the role of the task force. Streit: "Just generally speaking it's the 1970 law that Richard Nixon signed that essentially says that the government has to take into consideration environmental factors when making decisions. And the task force is tasked with taking a look at that law 35 years later now, to make sure the intent of congress for that law is being fulfilled." The task force is holding several hearings across the nation after which it will issue a report that will discuss their findings and any other appropriate recommendations. The Spokane hearing is this Saturday April 23rd at 10:00 a.m. at Washington State University's Riverpointe Campus in the Phase I Building auditorium. The public is invited to attend. I'm Bob Hoff.
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