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Borderland Management Taskforces and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Liaison Programs: Vehicles for Greater NEPA Public Involvement?
Abstract
“One of the primary goals of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is to encourage
meaningful public input and involvement in the process of evaluating the environmental
impacts of proposed federal actions,” according to the President’s Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ).
Reaching this goal can be a challenge anywhere within the United States, but in U.S.
border communities it can be particularly challenging. Along the southwest border
in particular, security concerns too often continue to be pitted against environmental
concerns, suggesting a choice is required. Pockets of poverty, language barriers,
and the national lack of resolution on immigration issues can divert public attention
away from environmental issues. As a result, providing meaningful input into NEPA
processes can all too easily become a low priority for the public.
The northern border has its own set of challenges. Here, distances between public
meeting sites can be vast, and harsh winter conditions in some areas further impede
participation at public meetings set up to provide information about federal projects
with potential environmental impacts. In addition, given the perceived abundance of
undisturbed natural resources, there may be a sense from some that individual proposed
federal actions will have a negligible negative effect. Although non-governmental
organizations focused on the preservation of particular species such as the grizzly
bear along the northern border of Idaho and Washington State continue to gain media
attention, overarching concerns such as jobs often continue to trump concerns about
potential environmental impacts of proposed federal actions.
Two border-specific governmental communication mechanisms have been created in recent
years that provide the opportunity to indirectly increase public input into the NEPA
process: intergovernmental groups called Borderlands Management Taskforces (BMTFs);
and the uniformed personnel within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) who serve
as Liaisons to specific components of the stakeholder spectrum. These liaison positions
include Public Lands Liaison Agents, Tribal Liaisons, and Border Community Liaisons,
as well as more specialized liaison positions such as Rancher Liaison.
Both of these communications mechanisms were created primarily to promote intergovernmental
collaboration for mutual mission success, leverage resources to the betterment of
all participating groups, and resolve problems at the local level. However, their
presence in border communities positions them well to also promote communication on
a variety of associated developments – including federal actions that trigger NEPA
analyses with accompanying public involvement. The discussion that follows will provide
more details about each mechanism and explore their broader potential to be harnessed
for NEPA public involvement purposes.
Type
ReportSubject
NEPAPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5998Citation
Koerner, Elaine M. (2012). Borderland Management Taskforces and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Liaison Programs:
Vehicles for Greater NEPA Public Involvement?. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5998.Collections
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Rights for Collection: National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Education and Certificate Program Capstone Papers
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