Public Comment

EDGI crafted public comments

EDGI’s Comment on the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Draft Environmental Impact Statement: Regulations Governing Take of Migratory Birds

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EDGI’s comment addresses the dissonance between the anticipated impacts of three proposed action alternatives and the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) assignment of Alternative A–codifying the interpretation in the DOI Solicitor Opinion M-37050 that the MBTA does not prohibit incidental take–as the agency’s proposed action. EDGI urges the agency to promulgate Alternative B, rescinding M-37050 and codifying the long-standing interpretation represented in M-37041 that the MBTA prohibits incidental take, and then pursue a permit structure to better regulate incidental take. EDGI also urges the agency to make informational resources regarding migratory birds and incidental take publicly accessible through the FWS website and to restore previously removed resources.

EDGI Urges EPA to Withdraw its Ill-Conceived ‘Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science’ Proposed Rule

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The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) has submitted a public comment on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) regarding its proposed Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule (STRS), Docket number EPA-HQ-OA-2019-0259-9322. We welcome you to read and draw material from the comment we submitted and urge you to submit a comment as well. The deadline for comments is May 18, 2020.

The EPA’s original 2018 proposal for the STRS rule represented a sweeping proposition to upend the use of science in the EPA’s regulatory developments and decisions. The STRS would require that data and models underlying scientific studies that are pivotal to regulatory action be available to the public, and “dose response data and models” used in regulatory decision-making available for independent validation. The proposed rule states that that would ensure that EPA relied on “best available science” that “enhance the public’s ability to understand and meaningfully participate in the regulatory process.” EDGI’s 2018 public comment on the proposed rule details its problematic ambiguity and misappropriation of transparency to stymie science-based regulations intended to protect human and environmental health…

EDGI’s Public Comment on the EPA’s Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science

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While this Supplemental Notice resolves some of the ambiguities of the original proposal (See Public Comment 2 below) , EDGI recommends its rejection. The notice vastly expands the scope of the proposed rule, actively dissuades public input, makes agency decision-making vulnerable to political persuasion, exploits the concept of transparency, and provides an avenue for unwarranted dismissal of high quality science.

EDGI’s Comment on the National Climate Assessment 5

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This comment supports the themes and framework proposed for the NCA5, and recommends enhancing the overall framework with a
climate justice lens, more substantial discussion of mitigation strategies and potential
effects, and using language commensurate with the climate crisis we are facing. We also recommend including more regional and sub-regional analyses in order to provide information that is resonant and actionable for diverse audiences.

EDGI’s Take on Proposed Revisions Undercutting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act

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EDGI’s Take on Proposed Revisions Undercutting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act

Photo: Jeffrey Hamilton By Marcy Beck, Gretchen Gehrke, and Aaron Lemelin EDGI welcomed the opportunity to comment on​ the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Proposed Rule: Migratory Bird Permits; Regulations Governing Take of Migratory Birds (Docket No. FWS-HQ-MB-2018-0090) in March 2020. This rule would narrow the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) … Read more

EDGI Public Comment on Proposed Revisions to Migratory Bird Treaty Act

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EDGI’s comment addresses a) removals, omissions, and revisions of Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) resources on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) websites, including those related to incidental take, that constrain the public’s ability to effectively participate in the rulemaking process, along with b) incomplete and selective information in the proposed rule document.

EDGI/EHAC Critiques Trump Admin’s Efforts to Weaken the National Environmental Policy Act

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EDGI/EHAC Critiques Trump Admin’s Efforts to Weaken the National Environmental Policy Act

In January 2020, the Trump administration proposed dramatic regulatory changes that, if instituted, will undermine one of the nation’s most effective environmental laws, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Act, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is a cornerstone of the laws and regulations put into place in the 1970s to protect the environment … Read more

EDGI/EHAC’s Public Comments on Proposed Changes to NEPA

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Submitted by the Environmental History Action Collaborative (EHAC) and members of the Website Monitoring Team, EDGI’s comments finds that the majority of the proposed rule changes are at cross-purposes with the original intent of NEPA, and urges rejection of proposals that: (a) minimize the substantive elements of NEPA; (b) arbitrarily limit the scope and length of EIS review; (c) reduce public participation in the NEPA process; (d) expand categorical exclusions; (e) limit the consideration of indirect and cumulative effects, and (f) restrict judicial review.

EPA MUST PROVIDE MORE ACCESSIBLE AND INFORMATIVE RESOURCES FOR AUTHENTIC PUBLIC COMMENT

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EPA MUST PROVIDE MORE ACCESSIBLE AND INFORMATIVE RESOURCES FOR AUTHENTIC PUBLIC COMMENT

EDGI’s comment focuses on removals of and reductions in access to online resources directly relevant to the proposed redefinition of Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) that constrain the public’s ability to effectively participate in this rulemaking process, to understand the impacts of the proposed changes to which aquatic resources would be designated as jurisdictional, and to track CWA implementation.