National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

This article was originally published in The Midden – Great Basin National Park: Vol. 15, No. 2, Winter 2015.

By Beth Cristobal, Environmental Protection Specialist

Mention your work involves the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and likely the first response from the other person is “yuck” or “I feel sorry for you.” But it really is not that bad. Many people do not understand what the acronym NEPA refers to or just assume because your work involves NEPA your job is to create a barrier to their project’s success. However, that is far from being true.

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, was an act to establish a national policy for the environment. According to the 2015 NPS NEPA Handbook, the act was also created to encourage harmony between people and their environment, to prevent or eliminate damage to the environment, to stimulate the health and welfare of people, to enrich the understanding of ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation, and to provide for establishing the Council of Environmental Quality, which oversees the NEPA process.

The NEPA process requires federal agencies to consider the proposed action or project and its effects on the environment before a decision is made.The NEPA process does not drive the decision to be made, it is merely a process which must be followed to inform interested and affected parties in the decision making process.

In the NPS, there are four paths of analysis: • Categorical exclusion for which No Documentation is required.
• Categorical Exclusion for which Documentation is required.
• Environmental Assessment
• Environmental Impact Statement

Anyone can learn about or comment on the projects parks are proposing by going to the Planning, Environment & Public Comment website.