National Environmental Policy Act

The National Environmental policy Act (NEPA) was established in 1969 and set national policy goals for the protection, maintenance, and enhancement of the environment. The act was signed into law by Richard Nixon eight years after the publication of Silent Spring in a time of growing environmental awareness. NEPA requires all federal agencies, including the Department of Energy (DOE), to review the environmental consequences of proposed developments, such as a federal hydropower dam, and to conduct a decision making process that included public input.

NEPA combined a declaration of environmental policy, created a Council on Environmental Quality, and brought to light a legal mechanism-- the
Environmental Impact Statement--to ensure a means for enforcing the policies. NEPA requires federal agencies to provide environmental impact
information to federal, state, local, Indian Nation officials, and the public when a proposed action may significantly impact the environment.

To many a politician's chagrin, the National Environmental Policy Act has emerged as a powerful tool in the hands of environmental activists who have embraced and utilized the Act to stop the idiotic logic of pork barrel public works projects. Federal agencies are now required to review, develop, and describe impacts and alternatives and obtain public input to recommended courses of action. Finally, there existed an Act which focused public attention on the environmental impacts of dams, diversions, dikes, and other river-damaging actions.

The NEPA process mandates that DOE and other federal agencies follow a specific process when actions on federal land could significantly impact the environment. If the proposed action meets criteria previously determined as having minimal environmental impact then the project may be eligible for a categorical exclusion. This exempts the project from further environmental evaluation under NEPA. Many routine actions, such as road and building maintenance, are excluded from the NEPA process.

If a proposed action is not granted a categorical exclusion, it must be determined whether an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) is required. Impacts that appear to be significant are reviewed with an Environmental Assessment that studies the impacts, the alternatives to the proposed action, and whether the action will significantly impact the environment to such a degree that an Environmental Impact Statement is necessary. If the EA indicates no significant environmental impact, then a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is issued.

Theoretically, any major federal action or major activity assisted, permitted, regulated, approved, or partially financed by the federal government should be required to perform an EIS. When an EIS is required, a Notice of Intent (NOI) is issued in the federal register and local papers to announce the scoping process which includes at least one public meeting and written comments about the concerns an EIS should address. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) is then prepared and reviewed by the public before a final EIS is written. The DEIS addresses the proposed actions environmental impacts, identifies relationships between short and long-term uses and impacts, looks at the resources being used and any cumulative effects on the environment, and studies alternatives to the action. Public comment periods follow and when all the oral and written comments are considered, a final EIS is written. The final EIS must review all environmental consequences including air, water quality, endangered species, aesthetic, and most importantly, all environmentally benign alternatives to the proposed project or activity. Finally, a Record of Decision (ROD) publicizes the course of action to be taken.

Unfortunately, findings of significant environmental impact do not necessarily stymie a project because often times agencies rule that some value, such as economic necessity, overrules the environmental impacts. Other times, plans are developed to mitigate the affects of the proposed project on the
environment. However, environmentally damaging projects cannot proceed while an EIS is being prepared.

How You Can Get Involved

(As outlined in David M Bolling's book How To Save A River )

1) Analyze any Environmental Assessment resulting in a "no significant impact" finding. If you believe that a FONSI was erroneously issued, you can
use the Administrative Procedures Act to bring up a legal suit specifying such things as damage to a fishery or water quality.

2) Present and submit expert testimony during public input sessions and EIS hearings.

3) Analyze the DEIS and submit comments. This is a great opportunity to submit and highlight alternatives to proposed projects that may have been
overlooked.

4) Determine who your allies are and use them to your benefit. The support of the EPA or U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife can legitimize and bolster your credibility.

5) Study the final EIS and if the EIS fails to review all possible alternatives then you have grounds to bring a legal suit against the proposed project. 


Source:  Environmental Law

[Mod 2] [Class]

Copyright 2000. Northern Arizona University, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED