NEPA modernization needed to protect environment, infrastructure

In 1986, Top Gun hit the big screens, the Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl – let’s hope for the last time – and 1.44-megabyte floppy disks were hitting the market. It was also the last time regulations enforcing one of our nation’s most important environmental laws – the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA – were revised. A lot has changed in technology, sports and culture since 1986, so why aren’t the regulations that govern the infrastructure our economy depends on being brought up to date as well?...

...The trouble with NEPA isn’t its goal of protecting the environment. Instead, it’s the failure of the federal government to revise the law’s regulations. This failure leads to wasted time and money, delayed projects and no additional environmental protections compared with what could be achieved if we were to bring these NEPA regulations into the 21st century.