On Feb. 15, the state of New Jersey appealed a recent decision that allowed the Army Corps of Engineers to deepen the main channel of the Delaware River. According to press reports, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said “that it would be ‘irresponsible’ for the corps to move ahead without a thorough review of the environmental impact.”
That statement highlights a difficult problem under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other programs that require a “thorough review of environmental impact.” Reviews take time. By the time an agency completes a review and decides to move forward with a project, some of the analysis may be somewhat dated. Does that mean that the agency then has to redo its review? If so, it might never have a study current enough to support a decision, and would be frozen into inaction. If not, it may be considering environmental impact based on conditions that have changed. This is an instance of the never-ending “hard look.”
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