National Environmental Policy Act - Contents

Contents

The preamble reads:

"To declare national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation..."

NEPA contains three sections:

1. The declaration of national environmental policies and goals
2. The establishment of action-forcing provisions for federal agencies to enforce those policies and goals
3. The establishment of a Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Executive Office of the President

The essential purpose of NEPA is to ensure that environmental factors are weighted equally when compared to other factors in the decision making process undertaken by federal agencies.The act establishes the national environmental policy, including a multidisciplinary approach to considering environmental effects in federal government agency decision making. The act also established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to advise the president in the preparation of an annual report on the progress of federal agencies in implementing NEPA, on national policies nurture and promote the improvement of the environments quality, and on the state of the environment. The effectiveness of NEPA originates in its requirement of federal agencies to prepare an environmental statement to accompany reports and recommendations for funding from Congress. This document is called an environmental impact statement (EIS). NEPA is an action-forcing piece of legislation, meaning that the act itself does not carry any criminal or civil sanctions. All enforcement of NEPA was to be obtained through the process of the court system.

A major federal action has been expanded to include most things that a federal agency could prohibit or regulate. In practice, a project is required to meet NEPA guidelines when a federal agency provides any portion of the financing for the project. Sometimes, however, review of a project by a federal employee can be viewed as a federal action and would then, therefore, require NEPA-compliant analysis be performed.

NEPA covers a vast array of federal agency actions, but not all actions are necessarily covered under NEPA. The act does not apply to purely private or purely public state action. This means that there is a complete absence of government influence or funding concerning that specific action. Exemptions and exclusions are also present within NEPA's guidelines. Exemptions from NEPA include specific federal projects detailed in legislation, EPA exemptions and functional equivalent exemptions. Functional equivalent exemptions apply where compliance with other environmental laws requires environmental analysis similar to NEPA. These other laws can include, but are not limited to, the Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.