Have We Sold the Environment Down the River?

Date

1999

Authors

Sutton, Victoria

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

South Carolina Environmental Law Journal

Abstract

The American Heritage Rivers Initiative (AHRI), a creation of the Council of Environmental Quality, is touted by the Clinton Administration as a program to "support community-led efforts to revitalize local economies, protect natural resources and the environment, and preserve historic and cultural resources." Unfortunately, the AHRI does little to protect the ecosystems of rivers and their watersheds focusing instead upon the development of riverbank recreational and residential structures of unspecified size and scope. In fact, the AHRI violates the protections provided by America's first environmental statute, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires that any "major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment” must be preceded by an environmental assessment (EA) and possibly an environmental impact statement. This article details the AHRI’s multitudinous constitutional, legal, and environmental shortcomings and concludes with a call for Congress to put a stop to the Act’s abuses.

Description

Keywords

American Heritage Rivers Initiative, Watershed management, Environmental quality

Citation

8 S.C. Envtl. L.J. 39