Who We Are

The Environmental Quality Division is one of several organizations administered by the National Park Service's Associate Director for Natural Resource Stewardship and Science. The division's staff is located in Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado, with a liaison office in Washington, D.C.

The division's branches work collaboratively to support National Park System units by assisting in management planning efforts, coordinating spill response activities, helping in damage assessment and restoration of injured park resources, providing social science expertise, and managing reviews of other federal agency actions that may impact park resources.

Division Organization and Functions

Environmental Planning and Compliance Branch

• Provides funding and project management for complex and nationally important National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning efforts.
• Provides guidance, technical assistance, and training on NEPA and other planning and compliance matters.

Resource Protection Branch

• Provides assistance for preparedness and response activities related to oil spills, hazardous material releases, and other incidents.
• Provides assistance in assessing injured resources and determining damages.
• Provides management assistance for restoration planning and implementation following resource injuries.
• Provides economic support for damage assessments, rulemakings, environmental analysis, and other special projects.

Social Science Branch

• Promotes state-of-the-art social science related to the mission of the NPS.
• Delivers usable knowledge to NPS managers and the public through the Visitor Service Project, Public Use Statistics Office, Money Generation Model (MGM2), NPS Comprehensive Survey of the American Public, and other initiatives.

External Environmental Review

• Coordinates reviews of actions proposed by other agencies that may affect NPS resources or programs.