Kristina Alexander
Legislative Attorney
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) establishes environmental policies that apply to the federal government, but it is best known for imposing environmental review procedures on federal agency actions. NEPA requires agencies to review the potential environmental impacts of their projects, recording their review in a publicly available document. There are three types of environmental documents, based on the type of review: a categorical exclusion (CE), an environmental assessment (EA), and an environmental impact statement (EIS). Tiering, programmatic, and supplemental documents are subsets of these original documents.
The act dictates procedure, not results. NEPA requires agencies to follow the process so that their decisions are informed. Agencies are required to take a “hard look” at the environmental impacts, not to meet set environmental standards nor to choose the project with the least environmental consequence. This report is intended as a general introduction to NEPA, analyzing what NEPA requires for those three types of environmental documents.
Date of Report: January 12, 2011
Number of Pages: 9
Order Number: RS20621
Price: $19.95
Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports
Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
Legislative Attorney
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) establishes environmental policies that apply to the federal government, but it is best known for imposing environmental review procedures on federal agency actions. NEPA requires agencies to review the potential environmental impacts of their projects, recording their review in a publicly available document. There are three types of environmental documents, based on the type of review: a categorical exclusion (CE), an environmental assessment (EA), and an environmental impact statement (EIS). Tiering, programmatic, and supplemental documents are subsets of these original documents.
The act dictates procedure, not results. NEPA requires agencies to follow the process so that their decisions are informed. Agencies are required to take a “hard look” at the environmental impacts, not to meet set environmental standards nor to choose the project with the least environmental consequence. This report is intended as a general introduction to NEPA, analyzing what NEPA requires for those three types of environmental documents.
Date of Report: January 12, 2011
Number of Pages: 9
Order Number: RS20621
Price: $19.95
Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports
Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
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