by electricron
Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Mon Sep 21, 2020 8:53 pm Ron, the segment I was addressing was the proposed route of I-95 through Northeast Wash - an area "not exactly Georgetown".1960s being the key time frame. The EPA Act was passed in Congress in 1969, and the EPA was formed in 1970. Afterwards!
Get out a map of Wash and locate where the 395 ends @ NY Ave. Then locate where 95 and 495 diverge sort of near the New Carrollton Station. Draw a line between those two points and "more or less" that was the proposed segment the NIMBY lobby successfully "whacked" during the 60's.
You really do not believe President Nixon was a die hard environmentalist who did not wish to see highways built, do you?
While the EPA purpose is to protect the environment, it is not designed to kill projects. It sets up processes to identify, then mitigate problems, so that the project in question gets built. Years are added to the project planning it, but the project will eventually get built incorporating all the mitigation measures.
Take the SMART train as an example. They were rebuilding a railroad line in the swamps of the north San Francisco Bay. Building in or over any waters in the USA is an environmental issue. To mitigate any new environmental damages, SMART mitigated that by removing an abandoned marina in the swamp. SMART was able to finish its project by spending more on something completely different in the swamp. Environmental justice some might call it. Never-the-less, SMART was able to finish the railway.
And that is what all these EIS processes under the EPA ultimately do.