Guide to the National Environmental Policy Act Interpretations, Applications, and Compliance

9780899304861

0899304869

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), enacted in 1970, requires federal agencies to analyze the environmental effects of all proposed major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Because the law is so broadly written and has wide application, it is impossible to understand how to comply with NEPA merely by reading the statute. In addition to the statute, NEPA'S implementing regulations written by the Council on Environmental Quality must be consulted as well as the relevant judicial decisions and regulations of individual federal agencies. This book draws together these various sources of NEPA law and presents the law in a clear and readable format designed to be both a practical reference and guide to compliance with the NEPA process and a comprehensive legal analysis of every aspect of NEPA law. Among the topics addressed by the author are the criteria that make a project subject to NEPA and the procedures mandated by NEPA and its regulations. Issues that frequently arise in NEPA legislation such as standing, ripeness, mootness, and exhaustion of administrative remedies receive extended treatment as do the scope of remedies available under NEPA. The author then provides a complete review and analysis of three state statutes with similar purposes to NEPA and compares them with NEPA. She also includes detailed instructions on the preparation of environmental assessments, environmental impact statements, and supplemental environmental impact statements. The volume concludes by examining major themes in NEPA law. An indispensable handbook for attorneys who deal with environmental transactions and litigation, and for people who prepare NEPA documentation, this book will also be an invaluable reference for members of citizens' groups interested in participating meaningfully in the NEPA process.