NEPA: a primer on the National Environmental Policy Act.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: ENVIRONMENTAL

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To protect the environment, the economy and the people who are affected by both, states have many rules and regulations in place to monitor development. Since the 1970s, however, the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, has been at the forefront of examining how new projects may impact the areas in which they are constructed on a federal level. The Act was signed into law Jan. 1, 1970.

"Title I of NEPA contains a Declaration of National Environmental Policy, which requires the federal government to use all practicable means to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony. Section 102 requires federal agencies to incorporate environmental considerations in their planning and decision-making through a systematic interdisciplinary approach. Specifically, all federal agencies are to prepare detailed statements assessing the environmental impact of and alternatives to major federal actions significantly affecting the environment," according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's website (www. epa.gov/compliance/nepa).

NEPA compliance requires an evaluation to determine whether or not a project may significantly affect the environment, resulting in either a categorical exclusion determination (CE), preparation of an environmental assessment (EA), or preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS). The Council on Environmental Quality, established as part of the Executive Office of the President by the Act, oversees NEPA.

"NEPA involvement requires a federal nexus--for example, the project uses federal land, requires federal funding or needs federal approval or permits," said Brian Lawhead, a senior scientist with ABR Inc. Environmental Research and Services, an Alaska firm with offices in Fairbanks and Anchorage. "It is not that uncommon in Alaska to get involved in the NEPA process because many of the projects here are fairly large and require federal input. You don't often see a new 90-mile road going in somewhere in the Lower 48, but because of Alaska's frontier aspect, we often have larger projects that create greater impact."

"NEPA is all about full disclosure; it's all-encompassing," said Mark Dalton, senior project manager and department manager, HDR, Inc., an architecture, engineering and consulting firm with four locations in Alaska. "It requires those involved to look at all of the potential impacts of a project--everything from how it affects the...