Number: 1998-15
WHEREAS, state and federal environmental laws have been put in place to protect public health and the quality of our natural environment; and
WHEREAS, there is an increasing trend to require formal risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis as a decision making tool in developing and reviewing environmental regulations implementing these laws; and
WHEREAS, the requirement of such analyses will hamper the enforcement of laws for their intended purposes by unduly burdening administrative agency personnel with complex, subjective, and time-consuming assessments, tying up the agencies and the courts; and
WHEREAS, sound, commonly accepted, and feasible methodologies for accurately assessing direct and indirect economic, health, and environmental costs and benefits do not exist; and
WHEREAS, human health and environmental values cannot be translated into dollars and cents alone;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 19-22, 1998, in Alexandria, Virginia, opposes the use of cost-benefit analysis or risk assessment as controlling factors in government decision-making relating to health, safety or environmental protection; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation opposes the use of cost-benefit analysis or risk assessment in government decision-making when these tools will unnecessarily interfere with or unreasonably delay health, safety or environmental protection.