FAST 41 transparency project

by Larry Campbell, Darby

So far, the FAST 41 Transparency Project listing for the Sheep Creek mine has succeeded in alerting and uniting the Bitterroot community against the mine but little else in terms of “fast” or “transparent”. Now that seems to be changing.

The FAST 41 Permitting Council, with its office deep in the bowels of the White House. (It doesn’t get much swampier than that.) is asking Montana to sign off on an MOU that would cede to the Whitehouse critical State regulatory power and the obligation to uphold Montana citizens’ constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. The MOU says, “Under the existing statutory authority, the Permitting Council is uniquely positioned to enable agreements with states that would align state and local permitting timetables with the efficient permitting timelines established under the Trump Administration.”…The State will ” Commit to aligning permitting timelines for all state actions to complete no later than the expected completion date for the final federal action for all FAST-41 projects within the State”; and “Work with the Permitting Council Executive Director to identify local permitting challenges and develop strategies to facilitate solutions for potential delays.”

I think we all know what that means. Hurry up and don’t worry about taking a close look at environmental, economic or human health damage. Another late-night Executive Order could doom our Valley to an even more abbreviated NEPA/MEPA analysis of impacts process than what is now in place.

Let’s hope Governor Gianforte does not allow himself to be emasculated by power plays from top dogs in D.C. We are his constituents and need him to use his backbone to stand tall.

This feels like a shady FAST move to me. I am not comfortable with Whitehouse control. They couldn’t care less about the Bitterroot.