Thank you for that question.
What I would say in response—and I think this picks up on a comment Ms. Brady was making a few moments ago—is that there is a need for consistent high-level assessment and project-specific assessment.
There should be thorough assessment at the high level to take into account not only necessary assessments, such as the assessment of cumulative effects, which is more easily, efficiently and meaningfully done at the high level. There should also be the kind of assessment that allows for a big-picture view of competing uses of an area. What exists in an area already? What is desired or is at least being envisioned for introduction into the area? Then we can look at these things and ask whether these activities could coexist.
If not—if there are conflicts—how are we going to make decisions about the best places to balance and to site? You need that high-level assessment process to be done consistently for every relevant area before you go in and just start doing project-specific impact assessments, but you also then need the project-specific impact assessment as well so you can look at the specifics of any site.
That is our position and what we recommend be built into this bill.