Section 4

April 1970

In September 1969, Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wi.) was attending a conference in Seattle. Since encouraging President Kennedy to embark on a 5-day, 11-State conservation tour in September 1963, the Senator had been searching for a way of focusing attention on the environment. During his conservation speaking tour in the summer of 1969, he had an inspiration:

Section 7

Adjustments

One casualty of NEPA was the era of personal mediation. During the 1950's and 1960's, State highway officials decided the location of Interstates by selecting the best route on the basis of geography, cost, economic benefit, directness of routing, minimum disruption of homes and businesses, political factors-all outside the public view.

Section 6

Adapting to NEPA

As reflected in Kessler's presentation, the transition to the new requirements was gradual, reflecting a wearing down of early resistance. In June 1973, the Center for Science in the Public Interest released its analysis of environmental impact statements issued by highway departments and found that they exaggerated the importance of the projects, minimized harmful effects, and neglected consideration of alternatives.

Section 5

FHWA Goes on the Offense

Throughout the 1960's, the highway community believed it was being unfairly targeted by critics who were delaying the important work for short-sighted, even selfish, reasons. In late 1969, FHWA launched an extensive counter-initiative of speeches, editorials, letters to the editor, and press releases to rebut what Director of Public Roads Ralph R.

Addressing the Quiet Crisis: Origins of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

By Richard F. Weingroff

Appendix

Epilogue: The Changing Federal Role

A New President

Chapter 4: The Federal Role in Highway Safety

BPR's Report to Congress

Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks, who had served as Secretary since the start of the Eisenhower Administration on January 21, 1953, left office on November 10, 1958.

Three days later, Lewis L. Strauss became Secretary.

Chapter 3: Maintaining The Focus

Gimmicks and Panaceas

In 1956, some consideration was given to holding a third S-D Day. The Traffic and Transportation Conference of the National Safety Council, meeting in February in Cincinnati, Ohio, voted to make the month of December a period of special emphasis. This vote was based on the conclusion that S-D Day 1956 had a favorable effect. During the emphasis period, S-D Day reversed the unfavorable trend of the previous 8 months, while accidents increased sharply immediately for the remainder of December.

Chapter 2: A Crusade for Safety

The Federal System

When President Eisenhower took office on January 20, 1953, he had many issues to confront, particularly the Korean War, which ended in July 1953. But first, the Nation's Governors wanted to raise an issue that they thought the new President would be sympathetic to: the balance between State and Federal authority. This issue had been at the heart of the American political debate since before the drafting of the Constitution, but had taken on new life during the aggressive Presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) and Harry S. Truman (1945-1953).