Dear Reader,
You have the power to protect 1,500 acres of forested land, avoid unnecessary development that will likely lead to an increase in future carbon emissions and ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t being used to support big private corporate profits by writing a comment by November 9th!
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), requires projects by the State or Federal government to examine the environmental and social impacts of a proposed project and identify alternatives before breaking ground. During that process the public (i.e. You!) have a chance to judge the project and comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) before any project gets the green light.
This opportunity for input is critical so that big polluters and political expediency do not win out over planetary well being or community safety. NEPA is the first environmental law in the US and is one of the strongest protections we have against unnecessary development. Despite President Trump’s attempts to disempower, or roll back this important law, NEPA remains and gives us the opportunity to have our voices heard and change the direction of the I-270 and Beltway Expansion Project.
The I-270 and Beltway Expansion Project was first proposed by Governor Hogan in September 2017. The proposed project seeks to expand the American Legion Bridge, I-495, and I-270 by two toll lanes in both directions of traffic to alleviate traffic concerns for residents of Maryland. Due to a lack of public funds and taxpayer resistance to funding construction projects like this one, the I-270 and Beltway Expansion is being pitched as a Public Private Partnership, or P3, development program. This P3 program would put the responsibility of designing, financing, constructing, and maintaining the toll lanes on a private contractor who then would be able to set prices and collect toll fees for the next 50 years of service.
Though proponents of the plan hail this model as a way for Maryland to benefit from expansion without taxpayers bearing the cost, the reality is that project cost estimates are conservative and likely to be overrun which would result in taxpayers footing a bill estimated between $480 million and $1 billion dollars for a project that will damage our communites.
On top of this concern, the developers currently vying for the project are mostly foreign companies, so potential economic benefits purported by Gov. Hogan and others are likely to be exported and not benefit Marylanders beyond the toll lanes’ existence. Additionally these toll lanes would benefit those Marylanders who could afford to pay to use them, while in many places they would actually worsen traffic for those who continue to use the free lanes. Not only does this proposal not make much sense economically for taxpayers, ratepayers, and community members of Maryland, there are many environmental and social costs that were not reasonably incorporated into the DEIS.
The DEIS prepared for this project is inadequate. It fails to meaningfully examine any alternatives that include public transportation options, transportation mitigation strategies or consideration of the changing needs of the Maryland public considering COVID-19. It also consistently segments the project to disguise actual impacts of development and examines alternatives that are nearly identical to the proposed project with marginally different effects.
For example, the proposed project would affect 1,500 private properties, four public schools (Carderock Elementary, Julius West Middle, Blair High, and Flintstone Elementary), and impact several environmental justice communities. These communities would be affected by increased pollution, decrease in natural areas, and increased stormwater hazards. Even worse, this information is sporadically mentioned in obscure locations and not cohesively addressed due to the segmentation or organization of the project and DEIS.
Rather than including clarifying information determining the potential impacts on community members the DEIS simply lists affected communities with little to no cumulative impact information. The DEIS systematically undervalues environmental resources and underestimates actual costs to taxpayers. Though the public is expected to review the documents surrounding this project to evaluate its efficacy, public interest groups have been barred from accessing documents or are being charged hundreds of thousands of dollars to view these resources despite legal public information requests.
The DEIS that was prepared for the Beltway Expansion Project is deeply flawed, and we cannot allow this project to move on without other alternatives being examined. We need your help to call public attention to these issues and gather as many public comments as we can to oppose this project and support the ‘no build alternative before November 9th.
Check out this review of key issues for further details about the ways in which this DEIS and the I-270/Beltway Expansion Project fail to adequately analyze environmental concerns.
Check out this tips document for more tips on how to write a comment and how to submit comments. Comments can also be shared verbally at public hearings. The public hearing dates are August 18, 20, and 25, and September 3. The in-person public hearing dates are September 1 (Largo) and September 10 (Rockville). You can view the hearings live online here.
The review and tips documents were shared on August 13 at the I-495/I-270 DEIS Comment Clinic delivered by Citizens Against Beltway Expansion, Maryland Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, and Audubon Naturalist Society. Here are the notes covering the concerns mentioned at the clinic.
Written by Miranda Green, a volunteer in Maryland Sierra Club's Summer Volunteer Leadership Program.
For further reading:
Proposed MD toll lanes to increase congestion for majority of drivers, shows new analysis
Respirable Crystalline Silica Dust, Crashes, and Bottlenecks
Protect your school from I-495 and I-270 expansion pollution!
Be Smart: Press Pause (about public comments on the DEIS during hearings)
State adds 30 days to comment period for I-495/I-270 environmental impact study
Opinion: The Myths Surrounding the I-495/I-270 Highway Expansion
18,000 Pages, Myriad Questions: Hogan’s Highway-Widening Plan Faces the Public
Opinion: What’s the Hurry on Governor’s I-495, I-270 Project?