Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
National Environmental Policy Act
 |
|---|
 |
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) set forth a national environmental policy and created the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The 91st United States Congress passed NEPA in December 1969. President Richard Nixon (R) signed the bill into law in January 1970.[1][2]
Background
According to the Congressional Research Service, the 1950s and 1960s were marked by growing public concern the over human impact on the environment and its consequences. The Congress passed the first iteration of the Clean Air Act, which authorized the federal government to assume regulatory authority over air quality matters in the nation, in 1963.[3][4][5]
During this time, Congress began to debate the possibility of declaring a comprehensive national environmental policy. The first such bill (the Resources and Conservation Act) was introduced in the Senate in 1959 by Senator James E. Murray (D-Montana). The act failed to pass Congress, though similar bills were debated throughout the 1960s. In 1968, the House and Senate convened a joint colloquium "to discuss the need for and potential means of implementing a national environmental policy." In a statement delivered at the colloquium, conservationist Laurance Rockefeller said:[3]
| “ | [W]e do not have a clearly stated national attitude toward the environment. In the areas of civil rights, education, full employment, and a number of others, the Congress of the United States has set forth a clearly understood national policy. This lack of overall national policy has been reflected in recent action of the courts in reversing decisions of administrative agencies on the grounds that they did not give sufficient consideration to environmental factors. Clearly, these agencies need better guidelines.[6] | ” |
| —Laurance Rockefeller | ||
Legislative history
See bill: National Environmental Policy Act
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 |
|
| United States Congress |
|---|
| Legislative history |
| Introduced: February 18, 1969 in the Senate |
| House vote: 372-15; September 23, 1969 |
| Senate vote: Unanimous; July 10, 1969 |
| Conference vote (House): Approved; December 23, 1969 |
| Conference vote (Senate): Approved; December 20, 1969 |
| President: Richard Nixon |
| Signed: January 1, 1970 |
|
|
Senator Henry M. Jackson (D-Washington) introduced NEPA in the United States Senate on February 18, 1969. The Senate voted unanimously to approve the bill on July 10, 1969. The House approved its version of the bill on September 23, 1969, by a vote of 372-15. A joint conference committee was convened to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill. The conference committee submitted its report on December 17, 1969. The Senate approved the conference committee report on December 20, 1969, and the House followed suit on December 23, 1969. President Richard Nixon signed the bill into law on January 1, 1970.[2]
In a prepared statement announcing the enactment of NEPA, Nixon said, "It is particularly fitting that my first official act in the new decade is to approve the National Environmental Policy Act. ... I [am] convinced that the 1970s absolutely must be the years when America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its air, its waters, and our living environment. It is literally now or never."[7]
Amendments were made to NEPA in 1975 and 1982.[8]
Components
Statement of policy
NEPA declared for the first time a national environmental policy:[8]
| “ | The Congress, recognizing the profound impact of man's activity on the interrelations of all components of the natural environment, particularly the profound influences of population growth, high-density urbanization, industrial expansion, resource exploitation, and new and expanding technological advances and recognizing further the critical importance of restoring and maintaining environmental quality to the overall welfare and development of man, declares that it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government, in cooperation with State and local governments, and other concerned public and private organizations, to use all practicable means and measures, including financial and technical assistance, in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.[6] | ” |
| —National Environmental Policy Act | ||
The act act stated that "it is the continuing responsibility of the federal government to use all practicable means ... to improve and coordinate federal plans, functions, programs and resources to the end that the nation may:"[8]
| “ |
|
” |
| —National Environmental Policy Act | ||
Council on Environmental Quality
NEPA created the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), a presidential advisory body that, according to the council's website, "coordinates federal environmental efforts and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental policies and initiatives." The council is composed of three members appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. One member is designated as the council's chairman, who in turn serves as the president's chief environmental policy adviser.[8][9]
NEPA compliance
According to the Congressional Research Service, the law required all federal agencies to submit "a detailed statement of environmental impacts ... for all major actions significantly affecting the environment." Federal agencies develop their own procedures to ensure compliance with NEPA requirements (though these requirements must meet standards developed by CEQ).[1][3]
When an agency proposes to take a major action (such as the adoption of rules, policies, formal plans, or programs, or the approval of specific projects), the agency is required by law to "determine if the action has the potential to affect the quality of the human environment." This analysis can result in one of the three following outcomes:[1]
- When an agency develops its NEPA compliance procedures, it must identify and compile a list of actions that will "have no significant individual or cumulative effect on the quality of the human environment." If the proposed action is included on this list, the agency may apply a "Categorical Exclusion" and proceed with the action (provided a review of "extraordinary circumstances" associated with the action finds no potential environmental impacts).[1]
- In the event that a Categorical Exclusion cannot be applied to the action, the agency must develop an "Environmental Assessment" (EA) to "determine if a proposed action or its alternatives have potentially significant environmental effects." An EA results in either a "Finding of No Significant Impact" or the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement.[1]
- The development of an "Environmental Impact Statement" (EIS) is a more formal review process than the EA. The agency must notify the public of the pending analysis via the federal register. Further, the agency "identifies and encourages participation from interested parties, defines the role of involved agencies, and determines the environmental issues relevant to the EIS." The agency must develop a "Purpose and Need" statement for the action and present alternatives (including a "no action" alternative). Alternatives must be presented in "sufficient detail for readers to compare their environmental effects." Upon completion of the initial draft, the EIS must be made available to the public for review and comment for at least 45 days. Once this review period has concluded, the agency will draft the final EIS, which must be made available to the public for at least 30 days. At the conclusion of this process, the agency must issue a "Record of Decision" that "explains the agency's decision, describes the alternatives the agency considered ... and discusses plans for mitigating potential environmental effects and monitoring those commitments."[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 National Environmental Policy Act, "Welcome - Regulations," accessed August 14, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 History Link, "NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act," August 27, 2011
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Congressional Research Service, "The National Environmental Policy Act: Background and Implementation," November 16, 2005
- ↑ American Chemical Society, "Legacy of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring," accessed August 14, 2014
- ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Understanding the Clean Air Act," accessed August 14, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The American Presidency Project, "Richard Nixon - Statement About the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969," January 1, 1970
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Energy.gov, "The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended," accessed August 14, 2014
- ↑ Council on Environmental Quality, "About," accessed August 14, 2014
