McMorris to lead task force

WASHINGTON – Rep. Cathy McMorris will lead a congressional task force to review a landmark environmental law that requires all federal agencies to study and report the impact their projects may have on the Earth.

Spokane is the first stop for the task force, which will conduct six regional meetings across the country over the next several months to take testimony on the effectiveness of the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. The Spokane meeting will occur at the end of April at a date and place not yet determined and include pre-selected witnesses from the Pacific Northwest.

McMorris, an Eastern Washington Republican in her first term, was chosen because of her leadership experience, said Matt Streit, spokesman for California Republican Rep. Richard Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, who picked McMorris for the job.

“Back when she was in Washington state, she obviously excelled there within the Republican Party and had many leadership positions, and already here in D.C., she’s been recognized by her peers as being very talented,” Streit said.

Before running for Congress last year, McMorris was minority leader in the state House of Representatives.

Her spokeswoman Connie Partoyan said that McMorris’ familiarity with Eastern Washington’s environmental concerns were likely factors in her appointment. She also is a member of the House Resources Committee, which oversees the act and the nation’s environmental laws.

NEPA requires land developers to conduct detailed analyses on their projects’ environmental impacts and how they will work to minimize any harm to the air, water, land and animal life the work might cause. While environmentalists argue the law helps protect endangered species and public lands, opponents contend its numerous regulations stall development and innovation.

The Bush administration has recommended modernizing the law to speed up the approval process and avoid bureaucratic constraints. This is the first time the law, signed by President Nixon in 1970, has been intensely reviewed by Congress

“We will be beginning to look at modernizing and streamlining a bill that hasn’t really been looked at in 35 years,” said Jack Silzel, McMorris’ legislative director.

Partoyan said that McMorris had no official opinion on whether NEPA needs to be changed.

“I think really what the task force is doing is just going out to the local regions and finding out if there is a problem, so I don’t think that anybody has at this point determined that there is a problem,” she said.