View Daily Data Tracking History
View Bill Text
SJM103.........................................by RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
ROADLESS AREAS - REGULATIONS - Stating findings of the Legislature and
requesting that President Bush impose a moratorium on roadless area
regulations.
02/08 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/09 Rpt prt - to 10th Ord
02/13 10th Ord - ADOPTED - 33-2-0
AYES -- Andreason, Boatright, Branch, Brandt, Bunderson, Burtenshaw,
Cameron, Danielson, Darrington, Davis, Deide, Frasure, Geddes,
Goedde, Hawkins, Ingram, Ipsen, Keough, King-Barrutia, Lee, Lodge,
Noh, Richardson, Risch, Sandy, Schroeder, Sims, Sorensen, Stegner,
Thorne, Wheeler, Whitworth, Williams,
NAYS -- Dunklin, Stennett
Absent and excused -- None
Floor Sponsor -- Danielson
Title apvd - to House
02/14 House intro - 1st rdg - to Res/Con
03/02 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/05 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/06 3rd rdg - ADOPTED - 56-1-13
AYES -- Barrett, Bedke, Bell, Bieter, Black, Boe, Bolz, Bradford,
Bruneel, Campbell, Chase, Clark, Collins, Cuddy, Denney, Ellis,
Ellsworth, Eskridge, Field(13), Gagner, Gould, Hadley, Hammond,
Harwood, Henbest, Higgins, Hornbeck, Kellogg, Kendell, Lake,
Loertscher, Mader, Marley, McKague, Meyer, Montgomery, Moss, Moyle,
Pearce, Pischner, Pomeroy, Ridinger, Roberts, Robison, Sali,
Schaefer, Sellman, Shepherd, Smith, Smylie, Stone, Swan(Hansen),
Tilman, Trail, Wheeler, Young
NAYS -- Jaquet
Absent and excused -- Barraclough(Barraclough), Callister, Crow,
Deal, Field(20), Jones, Kunz, Langford, Mortensen, Raybould,
Stevenson, Wood, Mr. Speaker
Floor Sponsor -- Cuddy
Title apvd - to Senate
03/07 To enrol
03/08 Rpt enrol - Pres signed
03/09 Sp signed
03/12 To Secretary of State
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-sixth Legislature First Regular Session - 2001
IN THE SENATE
SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 103
BY RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
1 A JOINT MEMORIAL
2 TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE CHIEF OF THE UNITED STATES FOREST
3 SERVICE, THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN
4 CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION REPRESENTING THE
5 STATE OF IDAHO IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
6 We, your Memorialists, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the
7 State of Idaho assembled in the First Regular Session of the Fifty-sixth Idaho
8 Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:
9 WHEREAS, on October 19, 1999, the United States Forest Service announced a
10 vast "rulemaking process to propose the protection of the remaining roadless
11 areas within the National Forest System." (64 FR 56306) This rulemaking
12 purportedly includes two draft environmental impact statements, at least one
13 set of draft regulations and a draft environmental assessment; and
14 WHEREAS, the Notice of Intent (NOI) solicited comments "on the scope of
15 the analysis that should be conducted" and on "the identification of alterna-
16 tives to the proposal" that would be set out in this multitude of documents.
17 The NOI provided prospective commentators with slightly more than sixty days
18 to comment on this enormous and poorly defined proposal. The NOI was an unac-
19 ceptable affront to the promise of meaningful public participation that is the
20 centerpiece of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); and
21 WHEREAS, more than forty million acres of land in the West could be
22 affected by the actions contemplated in the NOI. A permanent moratorium on
23 Forest Service road development would have a devastating impact on timber com-
24 munities in the West. The proposed moratorium would destroy attempts to
25 develop recreational economies in the West and deny access to huge areas of
26 the West to all but the able bodied. In sum, the moratorium would deny thou-
27 sands of citizens the opportunity to use, enjoy and benefit from the land; and
28 WHEREAS, the process used by the Forest Service to consider such a poten-
29 tially severe decision must reflect absolute fairness and deliberation. The
30 NOI demonstrated neither of those traits. No specific proposals were identi-
31 fied and no preliminary findings were referenced; and
32 WHEREAS, these failures violated one of NEPA's primary objectives of
33 encouraging and facilitating "public involvement in decisions which affect the
34 quality of the human environment." (40 CFR 1500.2(d)); and
35 WHEREAS, the NOI stated that it initiated "the scoping process." (64 FR
36 56307) However, the NOI does not identify "the significant issues related to
37 [the] proposed action," as is required by federal regulations. (40 CFR 1501.7)
38 The NOI did not encourage "the participation of affected federal, state and
39 local agencies" as the regulations implementing NEPA anticipate. (40 CFR
40 1501.7(a)(1)); and
41 WHEREAS, the ambiguity and confusion that characterize the NOI was com-
42 pounded by the fact that the comment period was so brief. Title 40 CFR
43 1501.8(b)(1)(i)-(viii) specifically set out considerations that the Forest
44 Service should be using in determining the time limits for soliciting comments
2
1 on the NOI.
2 "(b) The agency may:
3 (1) Consider the following factors in determining time limits:
4 (i) Potential for environmental harm.
5 (ii) Size of the proposed action.
6 (iii) State of the art of analytic techniques.
7 (iv) Degree of public need for the proposed action, including the
8 consequences of delay.
9 (v) Number of persons and agencies affected.
10 (vi) Degree to which relevant information is known and if not known
11 the time required for obtaining it.
12 (vii) Degree to which the action is controversial.
13 (viii) Other time limits imposed on the agency by law, regulations or
14 executive order."; and
15 WHEREAS, it is obvious that all of these factors support a careful, delib-
16 erate consideration of the environmental impacts of the proposed permanent
17 moratorium. The expedited deadline in the NOI was completely inconsistent with
18 40 CFR 1501.8(b); and
19 WHEREAS, in an October 28, 1999, letter to Forest Service managers,
20 Michael Dombeck, Chief of the U.S. Forest Service suggested that the Forest
21 Service attempted to complete the environmental analysis of a permanent mora-
22 torium in a "short time frame." The U.S. Forest Service continued to ramrod a
23 decision that would shut down forty million acres of western lands into "a
24 short time frame." The spirit, in addition to the clear mandate of NEPA is
25 accomplished by providing meaningful opportunity for public participation and
26 careful, principled, environmental analysis; and
27 WHEREAS, on December 30, 1999, the State of Idaho brought suit to extend
28 the comment period beyond that mandated by the NOI. The State alleged that it
29 did not, to that point, have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the
30 process, in addition to claiming that the National Forest Management Act and
31 the Administrative Procedure Act had been violated.
32 WHEREAS, in dismissing the State's suit because it was brought prior to
33 the final agency action, the U.S. district judge noted that the U.S. Forest
34 Service "should make every effort to ensure that the process is properly
35 implemented with reasonable time frames to allow meaningful participation by
36 the public," and that Idaho's concern "over access to and management of its
37 endowment and state forest lands that may be surrounded by national forest
38 land are legitimate concerns of state and local governments and its citizens."
39 Finally, the court declared "Time is not of the essence on an issue that has
40 been studied for over 30 years."
41 WHEREAS, the closing date for public comments was set for December 20,
42 1999. With decisions on the management of over forty million acres of land in
43 the West at stake, the time was clearly not adequate time for officials to
44 thoroughly review and analyze the proposal, and to provide the Forest Service
45 with informed and substantive comment;
46 WHEREAS, on January 5, 2001, only 15 days before President Clinton left
47 office, in an obvious rush to enact flawed and politically motivated policy
48 through the administrative rulemaking process, President Clinton finalized and
49 implemented the roadless rule; and
50 WHEREAS, on January 9, 2001, the Governor, the Attorney General of Idaho,
51 the Idaho Board of Land Commissioners, and the Idaho Department of Lands, on
52 behalf of the State of Idaho filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service for
53 making a decision to implement the roadless regulation, which regulations
54 implementation creates a potential violation of the National Environmental
55 Policy Act (NEPA) which will cause irreparable injury to the state of Idaho.
3
1 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Session
2 of the Fifty-sixth Idaho Legislature, the Senate and the House of Representa-
3 tives concurring therein, that we respectfully request that President Bush
4 impose a moratorium on the roadless regulations pending careful review and
5 study.
6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate be, and she is
7 hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of this Memorial to the Pres-
8 ident of the United States, the Chief of the United States Forest Service, the
9 President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of
10 Congress, and the congressional delegation representing the State of Idaho in
11 the Congress of the United States.