Statement of Administration Policy: S. 1792 - Appropriations Authorization for the Office of Environmental Quality

(Senate)
(Baucus (D) MT and Durenberger (R) MN)

The President's senior advisers would recommend disapproval of S. 1792 unless it is amended to delete section 106, which would extend the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to Federal agencies' extraterritorial actions.

Section 106 would destroy the balance between our vital concern for the global environment and the efficient conduct of foreign policy, a balance already embodied in Executive Order 12114, which established requirements for environmental impact assessments for certain Federal extraterritorial actions. Section 106 would impede unnecessarily the work of agencies with international responsibilities, and impose onerous new requirements that would ultimately frustrate the successful conduct of our foreign policy.