XPost: misc.transport.road   
   From: jfc@mit.edu   
      
   In article <1161813023.882374.180510@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,   
   pigsty1953@yahoo.com  wrote:   
   >   
   >>   
   >> By being a "private business" the tunnel avoids all of the stuff like   
   >> FOIA, public hearings, and such.  Also the road is not incorporated   
   >> into the NHS, so the tunnel can set its own rules w/o asking.   
   >>   
   >> SP Cook   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   >I have my doubts about that.   
   >They are subject to the Federal and State environmental laws whch   
   >require   
   >EIS and those ARE public.   
      
   The tunnel was built in 1930, according to its web page,   
   long before the federal government was so interested in   
   regulating everything.  (Also long before the Channel   
   Tunnel, in response to another article in this thread.   
   The PR copy for the DWT may be quite old.)   
      
   There are two main types of federal environmental laws.   
      
   The National Environmental Policy Act and related laws   
   govern federal agency action and federal-aid projects.   
   You can evade these laws by not involving the federal   
   government, e.g. by building a toll road, or a privately   
   financed building.   
      
   Other laws regulate specific activities that affect   
   what Congress or the Corps of Engineers considers   
   national resources.  Federal review is limited to   
   the scope of the applicable law and may not require   
   a full EIS.   
      
      
   >There were a great many debates in New York State over the auditing   
   >and availability of financial statements of Public Authorities.   
   >Those are public, and I do not see how this could be any different.   
      
   The result depends on the exact wording of state law as well   
   as the mood of the courts.  I'm told the New York courts had   
   to disregard the state constitution to allow public   
   authorities to exist at all.   
      
   --   
       John Carr (jfc@mit.edu)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)