CHAPTER 1

FOUNDATION

1.1 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

“An act to establish a national policy for the environment, to provide for the establishment of a Council on Environmental Quality and for other purposes.”

NEPA [1969 or 1/1/70; and the creator of the Environmental Protection Agency] - Formulated in response to a stated need

for coordinated planning for environmental protection

From July (specifically July 9) through December 1970, the Office of the President (President Nixon) carried out reorganization (transfer) of existing Federal regulatory assignments under a Federal environmental protection agency

December 2, 1970, the EPA was established as an independent environmental regulatory agency to bring under unified jurisdiction pollution control programs related to sir, water and solid waste

Title I – established environmental regulation requirements for agencies of the Federal government--- particular importance is Section 102(2) – specifically, a systematic, interdisciplinary approach to the planning and assessment process where the human environment many be impacted and develop a means to ensure that environmental amenities and values are given appropriate consideration in the planning process (pp. 5-6)

Interesting

Though NEPA calls for a “systematic interdisciplinary approach”, it provides no substantive guidance by law or statute as to how to implement such an approach… the only Congressional guidance approaching a “systematic” approach is found in Section 102(2)(C) where you find a required contents for a “detailed statement: on environmental impact

Section 102(2) sets the foundation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)- Formal process for predicting (assessing)

how a project or proposed legislation will affect natural resources… a

requirement under NEPA- Federal-level EISs are written by any Federal agency for itself, or on behalf of a state, local or private concern that it (Fed) funds or “polices” (regulates)

EIS, cont- EIS includes assessment of long – and – short-term effects on the physical, economic and human/biological environments- Through the EIS, Section 102(2) of NEPA

provides regulatory officials (pp. 5-6):(1) environmental impact of a proposed action;(2) any environmental effects which cannot

be avoided should the proposal be implemented;

Section 102(2), cont(3) alternatives to the proposed action;

(4) relationship between local short-term uses of Man’s environment and the

maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity;

(5) any irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources which would

be involved in the proposed action should it be implemented;

An EIS reports these in a sequence of stages:(1) initial screening of proposed program or project

to determine whether impact assessment is necessary and how detailed;

(2) initial assessment to identify key impacts, magnitudes, significance and importance;(3) scoping to insure that the EIS focuses on key issues and determine where greater detail is necessary (4) implementing main EIS – a detailed investigation – to predict impacts and/or assess project consequences

EIS Report, cont

(5) optionally, a follow-up is utilized to see how close EIS predictions are to actual impacts

Interesting term for you: environmental audit – voluntary regulation of environmental practices by a private corporation. Goal being to monitor corporate environmental impact

1.2 Council on Environmental Quality Regulations

Title II established Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Executive Office of the President- Function of the CEQ:

(1) assist Office of the President in preparing the Environmental Quality Report(2) gather/analyze/interpret conditions and trends in environmental quality (3)

determine if such conditions and trends interfere with Act policy

(4) determine Federal Govt agency contribution to achieve policy under the Act and

recommend to the Office of the President national policies to foster and promote improvement of environmental quality to meet national goals

1.4 Significance

- Significance is a concept of environmental impact assessment that has proven controversial since NEPA(1) its defining criteria has expanded over time from

court action, new regulation/legislation(2) use of the term implies a value judgment(3) some agencies insist that all impacts be quantified

[this can be problematic – i.e.: if an impact rates mention – is it not significant? And if it is

significant, than mitigation strategy must be formulated. Hey, let’s just not mention it…]

1.4 Significance, cont

- Defined it terms of:context – the geographical setting of a proposed project or actionintensity – severity of a project

--- under NEPA, criteria includes: … degree affecting public health or safety … presence of unique physical and/or

cultural characteristics … degree to which the effects will be

controversial… or uncertain… or involve risk … degree of effects on threatened or

endangered species or habitat … whether action conflicts with other

Federal, state or local laws / requirements

1.5 Environment

- Contrary to frequently held perception, “effects” impacting humans which are “assessed” are not strictly natural resources--- the definition of environment is extensive and comprehensive, and includes “artificial” elements of the human environment

… social environment and economic environment

1.6 Scoping

The early coordination with interested and affected agencies and the public in a committed and organized program of cooperation to:

(1) identify import issues and concerns

(2) identify areas not of concern in a particular program or project

(3) identify other legislative or regulatory requirements

Scoping establishes:--- the scope of additional studies--- assists staffing and scheduling of study

activities--- promotes compliance with all applicable

legislative requirements

1.7 Alternatives

Environmental impact analysis considers a concise and comprehensive spectrum of impacts--- specifically:

short-term long-term

direct indirectly (secondary)individual cumulativebeneficial adverse

- indirect (secondary) effects are those spatially and temporary removed from the proposed project

- - cumulative occur in situations where individual projects or actions may not have a significant effect, but in conjunction with other projects, the project’s contribution of adversity may cause an overall adverse cumulative effect--- may be additive (same sources of impact affecting the same resources); or

interactive (differing sources of impact affect the same resources)

1.9 Defining the Action or Project

The action of project being proposed must be carefully evaluated to determine the appropriateness of its definition for environmental assessment and documentation. (p. 12)

Proposed projects must:(1) be able to stand alone(2) not preclude future projects

(can be difficult)

1.11 Mitigation

All possible measures to mitigate potential impacts should be included in the proposed action

CEQ regulations define mitigation to include:(1) avoiding the impact(2) minimizing impact by limiting the degree/magnitude of the action(3) rectifying impact by repairing, rehabilitating, or

restoring the affected environment(4) reducing or eliminating the impact over time(5) compensating for impact by replacing or providing substitute resources or environments