Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:02:56.710Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS AND CASE STUDIES: Streamlining the National Environmental Policy Act Process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2015

Joseph Trnka  and
Elizabeth Ellis
Joseph Trnka*
Affiliation:
Joseph Trnka, BA, AICP, CEP, Principal Investigator, J Trnka Consulting, Fargo, North Dakota. Elizabeth Ellis, MES, CEP, Environmental Review Coordinator, Washington State Department of Ecology, Lacey, Washington.
Elizabeth Ellis
Affiliation:
Joseph Trnka, BA, AICP, CEP, Principal Investigator, J Trnka Consulting, Fargo, North Dakota. Elizabeth Ellis, MES, CEP, Environmental Review Coordinator, Washington State Department of Ecology, Lacey, Washington.
*
Address correspondence to: Joe Trnka, AICP, CEP, J Trnka Consulting, Fargo, ND 58102; (phone) 701-353-2019; (e-mail) [email protected] or www.jtrnka.com.
Get access

Abstract

The article offers an examination of recent efforts to streamline the NEPA process. Proposed streamlining methods are evaluated to answer whether streamlining initiatives would either improve NEPA or result in a cautionary tale of unintended consequences. Examples are given of commonly encountered sources of delay outside of NEPA that streamlining initiatives cannot address. The article concludes with a discussion of ways to reduce delay in NEPA review.

Environmental Practice 16: 302–308 (2014)

Type
Features
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 302 - 308
Copyright
© National Association of Environmental Professionals 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Blankenship, K. 2009. EIS Math Error May Underestimate Risk of Ariakensis Introduction: Oyster Gardener Finds Mistake That Others Missed in 1,500-Page Report. Bay Journal, March 1. Available at http://www.bayjournal.com/article/eis_math_error_may_underestimate_risk_of_ariakensis_introduction.Google Scholar
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). 1978, reprinted 2005. 40 CFR Parts 1500–1508: Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act. CEQ, Washington, DC, 47 pp. Available at http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/NEPA-40CFR1500_1508.pdf.Google Scholar
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). 2010, February 18. White House Council on Environmental Quality Announces Steps to Modernize and Reinvigorate the National Environmental Policy Act. CEQ, Washington, DC. Available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/Press_Releases/February_18_2010.Google Scholar
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). 2012, April 24. Letter from Nancy H. Sutley, Chair, Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Office of the President, to Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), Chair, and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Ranking Member, Subcomm. on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary. On file with Democratic staff of the House Committee on the Judiciary.Google Scholar
deWitt, C., and deWitt, P.. 2012. Preparation Times for Final EISs 2012. In Annual NEPA Report 2012 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Practice, April 2013. National Association of Environmental Professionals, Collingswood, NJ, 11–18.Google Scholar
Luther, L. 2006, February 8. The National Environmental Policy Act: Streamlining NEPA. Resources, Science, and Industry Division, Order Code RL33267. Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC, 39 pp. Available at http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33267_20060208.pdf.Google Scholar
Office of the Law Revision Counsel (OLRC). N.d. Chapter 5: Administrative Procedure. In United States Code. OLRC, Washington, DC. Available at http://uscode.house.gov/browse.xhtml.Google Scholar
Solzhenitsyn, A. 1968. Cancer Ward. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, New York, 560 pp.Google Scholar
US Congress. 1970. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. US Congress, Washington, DC, 4 pp. Available at https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/nepa_statute.pdf.Google Scholar
US Congress. 2013, July 10. RAPID (Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development) Act of 2013. House Report 112-596, 2nd Session. US Congress, Washington, DC. Available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-112hrpt596/html/CRPT-112hrpt596-pt1.htm.Google Scholar
Whitfield, P. 2013. NEPA Watch—House Proposes Legislation to Streamline NEPA. Posted on August 15, 2013. Baker Hostetler Environmental Law Strategy Blog. http://www.environmentallawstrategy.com/2013/08/nepa-watch-house-proposes-legislation-to-streamline-nepa-reviews/.Google Scholar

Further Reading

Andreas, E., and Kennedy, K., for Wiley Rein, LLP. 2012, June 28. NEPA and Renewable Energy Practices: Streamlining Sustainability. ABA Environmental Litigation 23(3). Available at http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6c2f0e4a-48a9-4419-95f3-eb6890fb0b10.Google Scholar
Clark, R., and Canter, L., eds. 1997. Environmental Policy and NEPA: Past, Present, and Future, 363 pp. St. Lucie Press, Boca Raton, FL.Google Scholar
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). 2014, January 28. Steps to Modernize and Reinvigorate NEPA. CEQ, Washington, DC. Available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/nepa.Google Scholar
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). 2013, March. NEPA and NHPA: A Handbook for Integrating NEPA and Section 106. CEQ and ACHP, Washington, DC, 47 pp. Available at http://www.achp.gov/docs/NEPA_NHPA_Section_106_Handbook_Mar2013.pdf.Google Scholar
Environmental Law Institute (ELI). 2010, August. NEPA Success Stories: Celebrating 40 Years of Transparency and Open Government. ELI, Washington, DC, 34 pp. Available at http://www.eli.org/research-report/nepa-success-stories-celebrating-40-years-transparency-and-open-government.Google Scholar
Gaines, L., and Lurie, S.. 2007, May 16. NEPA for the 21st Century: A Comparative Analysis of Other Organization’s Environmental Review Structures: Final Report. Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon State University, Corvallis, 46 pp. Available at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/about/programs/fsd/NEPA/Final%20Draft%20Report-160507.pdf.Google Scholar
Lake, E.A. 2013, March 19. Integrating NEPA and NHPA Section 106 Reviews: New Guidance Document Provides Useful Advice, But Leaves Some Questions Unanswered. Holland & Knight, Washington, DC. Available at http://www.hklaw.com/publications/integrating-nepa-and-nhpa-section-106-reviews-new-guidance-document-provides-useful-advice-but-leaves-some-questions-unanswered-03-19-2013/.Google Scholar
Lake, E.A., and Targ, N.W.. 2013, March 19. Federal Efficiency/Streamlining: CEQ Issues New NEPA Guidance Documents. Holland & Knight, Washington, DC. Available at http://www.hklaw.com/publications/federal-efficiencystreamlining-ceq-issues-new-nepa-guidance-documents-03-19-2013/.Google Scholar