Washington News
Oceans ruling a loss for Bush Environmental act applicable, judge says
09/20/02By John McQuaid
Washington bureau/The Times-Picayune WASHINGTON -- A federal judge Thursday rejected a legal argument advanced by the Bush administration that a major environmental law doesn't apply to the oceans outside U.S. territorial waters.
The law, the National Environmental Policy Act, requires federal agencies to determine the environmental impacts of their major decisions.
The Bush administration has been studying ways to streamline the way the law is applied, angering environmental groups, which have accused the administration of trying to reduce or eliminate environmental reviews.
Thursday's decision dealt with a dispute between the Navy and a coalition of environmental groups led by the Natural Resources Defense Council over a Navy program to test an advanced sonar system.The testing has been linked to the stranding of whales, and the NRDC argued in a suit that the Navy had not done an adequate environmental analysis and that the program should be halted.The Navy, backed by the Justice Department, defended its approach of doing environmental reviews of each test individually. It also argued that it didn't have to do a comprehensive environmental impact statement, saying NEPA didn't apply because the tests are conducted mostly outside U.S. territorial waters.
U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder denied the NRDC's motion to stop the testing, ruling that the Navy's one-at-a-time approach is legal. But she rejected the Navy's argument that NEPA did not apply to the Exclusive Economic Zone, the oceans out to a 200-mile limit from U.S. shores where the government exercises control over fishing, mineral rights and other economic activities.
Citing a 1993 court decision saying that NEPA applied to a U.S. program in Antarctica, the decision said that unless the law conflicted with U.S. foreign policy, it could be applied beyond U.S. territory.. . . . . . .John McQuaid can be reached at john.mcquaid@newhouse.com or (202) 383-7889.09/20/02 |
