Environmental Law Summary:

National Environmental Policy Act

Purpose and Organization

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as implemented by E.O. 11514 and E.O. 11991 established national policies and goals for the protection of the environment. NEPA aims to encourage harmony between people and the environment, to promote efforts to prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and the biosphere, and to enrich the understanding of ecological systems and natural resources important to the country.

NEPA is divided into two titles. Title I outlines a basic national charter for protection of the environment. Title II establishes the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). CEQ monitors the progress made towards achieving the goals set forth in Section 101 of NEPA. CEQ's duties include advising the president on environmental issues and providing guidance to other federal agencies on compliance with NEPA. Accordingly, CEQ promulgated regulations (amended in 1986) governing the NEPA process for all federal agencies.

Section 102(2) of NEPA contains "action-forcing" provisions that ensure federal agencies, including DOE, act according to the letter and the spirit of the law. These procedural requirements direct all federal agencies to give appropriate consideration to the environmental effects of their decision making and to prepare detailed environmental statements on recommendations or reports on proposals for legislation and other major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the environment.

Agencies must establish specific criteria for classes of action that (1) usually require an environmental impact statement (EIS), (2) normally require an environmental assessment (EA) but do not necessarily require an EIS, and (3) require neither an EA nor an EIS (the "categorical exclusions"). DOE has promulgated agency regulations implementing NEPA at 10 CFR Part 1021.

If the action requires an EIS, the agency must publish a Notice of Intent (NOI) and begin the scoping process. Then, the agency prepares the draft EIS (DEIS), solicits comments from affected parties and various governmental entities, and drafts the final EIS (FEIS) after considering the comments received.

The contents of the FEIS must be considered when making a decision on the proposed action. The agency must prepare a record of decision (ROD), a concise statement of its decision discussing its choice among alternatives and the means that will be employed to mitigate or minimize environmental harm. If the agency action does not fall within the category of actions designated as categorical exclusions or requiring an EIS, the agency must prepare an EA. The EA determines whether or not an EIS is needed. If the EA determines that an EIS is not needed, the agency must issue a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) that briefly explains why the agency's action will not have a significant impact on the environment.

Although NEPA requires agencies to take what is known as a "hard look" at the environmental consequences of their actions, it does not force them to take the most environmentally sound alternative.

DOE's NEPA Compliance Planning

Although many of the other environmental statutes have unique requirements, coordinating their review requirements with NEPA compliance will avoid delays that can be caused by proceeding separately under each statute. Because of its multipurpose scope as the basic policy-setting federal law relating to protection of the environment, the NEPA process is an excellent means to accomplish the required coordination among the various environmental laws.

Although coordination of environmental requirements will alleviate some delays, the real key to solving delays and other problems associated with environmental compliance is integrating NEPA and related environmental reviews with other planning at the earliest possible time. To help DOE staff plan for and achieve compliance with NEPA and the various related environmental reviews, the Office of NEPA Oversight (EH-25) has prepared a NEPA Compliance Guide. This document provides information on the NEPA process, the processes of related environmental statutes that bear on the NEPA process, timing the relationships between NEPA review and review requirements of other environmental statutes, and timing the relationships between the NEPA process and the development process for programs and projects. This guide is reviewed on a continuing basis and augmented, as necessary.