Department of the interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Chairman, my amendment will help ensure that all communities are able to participate in decisions that shape the National Park Service. Environmental justice is defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people--regardless of race, color, national origin, or income--with respect to our Nation's environmental laws and policies. This amendment represents an important step towards that goal.

The NPS has a robust planning, environment, and public comment database and Web site, known as PEPC.

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This Web site is used for consultation and providing information on planning issues such as management plans, construction projects, environmental assessments, and environmental impact statements. This Web site is how the users of the National Park Service can participate in NPS decisionmaking.

Unfortunately, however, PEPC is only available in English--no Spanish, none of the Asian languages spoken by the fastest growing segment of our population, and none of the indigenous languages of our Native American brothers and sisters.

To address this shortcoming, my amendment will provide $1 million to update PEPC. This funding will provide translation of the contents of PEPC to the public, the ability of the public to provide input into the PEPC process in the most commonly spoken languages, and informing affected communities of the improvements.

Mr. Chairman, America is becoming more and more diverse every day, and our land management agencies must adapt to it. It is critical that new and growing community can access our public lands and services. They are the new users and stewards that Federal land management agencies such as the National Park Service must engage as it prepares for its centennial.

To reach these Americans, the NPS will need improved tools to clearly communicate with people who may struggle to comprehend materials in English. That is exactly what my amendment intends to accomplish. This measure will help the Park Service and the Department of the Interior to achieve their performance benchmarks.

One of the key measures of the Department's environmental justice outcomes is outreach to minority and underserved communities. Executive Order 13116 states that all Federal agencies shall provide access to services for persons with limited English proficiency. By offering a Web interface in multiple languages, NPS will increase its relevance to minority communities and help the Department of the Interior to make progress towards this very important requirement.

Mr. Chairman, we can all agree that engaging the public on important decisions that affect their communities is a linchpin of our system of government. When all communities are afforded access to the decisionmaking process, we improve the outcomes of those decisions and we strengthen our democracy.

I hope all Members will join me in supporting this critical amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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