A. NEPA and the Council on Environmental
Quality
The
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was passed by Congress in 1969
and took effect on January 1, 1970. This landmark legislation established
this country's environmental policies, including the goal of achieving
productive harmony between human beings and the physical environment for
present and future generations. It provided the tools to carry out these
goals by mandating that every federal agency prepare an in-depth study
of the impacts of major federal actions having a significant effect
on the environment and alternatives to those actions, and requiring
that each agency make that information an integral part of its decisions.
NEPA also requires that agencies make a diligent effort to involve the
interested and affected public before they make decisions affecting the
environment.
Besides setting environmental planning policy goals,
NEPA created the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), an agency of
the President's office that would be the caretaker of NEPA.
CEQ published NEPA
regulations in 1978 (40 CFR 1500-1508) and added to them in 1981 with
a guidance document titled Forty
Most Asked Questions Concerning CEQ's NEPA Regulations (40 Most
Asked Questions). These regulations apply to all federal agencies, and
in them CEQ requires each federal agency to implement procedures
to make the NEPA process more useful to agency decision-makers and the
public (40 CFR 1500.2). Agencies are to review and update these
regulations as necessary.
CEQ
Regulations and Guidance
B. Interior/NPs NEPA guidance and this handbook
The
Department of the Interior (Interior) produced its NEPA regulations as
Part 516 of its departmental manual (DM), and the National Park Service
(NPs) produced several NEPA handbooks. The last update, NPS-12, was issued
in 1982. Interior has also produced and continuously updates a series
of environmental statement and compliance memoranda which further interpret
Part 516 and need to be consulted in this process. This handbook is an
update and revision of NPS-12, and it supersedes the 1982 version. Although
it is termed a handbook, most of the sections derive in whole or in part
from the CEQ regulation or Interior NEPA guidelines, giving them the force
of law. The processes described in this handbook are binding on all NPs
personnel. Under the terms of the National Parks Omnibus Management Act
of 1998, the Secretary shall take such measures as are necessary
to assure the full and proper utilization of the results of scientific
study for park management decisions. In each case in which an action undertaken
by the National Park Service may cause a significant adverse effect on
a park resource, the administrative record shall reflect the manner in
which unit resource studies have been considered. The development
of alternatives, analysis of impacts, and incorporation of the best available
information, coupled with identification of environmentally preferable
courses of action as called for in this handbook, are one set of steps
required in meeting this obligation to the public.
This handbook never conflicts with the CEQ regulations,
although the NPs has added some requirements that go beyond those imposed
by CEQ to help facilitate the requirements of the law that established
the NPs (the Organic Act) and other laws and policies that guide our actions.
C. Citations in NPS-12
Sections of NEPA, the CEQ regulations, the 40 Most
Asked Questions, and the Interior departmental manual are cited in NPS-12.
They are cited as follows:
- NEPA The section
number is in parentheses: (section 102 (A)), for example.
- CEQ regulations The
section number is in parentheses: (1502.1).
- 40 Most Asked Questions
The number of the question referenced is cited in parentheses:
(Q23).
- Interior departmental manual
A section is cited in parentheses as 516 DM followed by the section
or appendix number: (516 DM, 7). Environmental statement memoranda are
designated as ESM and the year and number: (ESM 94-8). Environmental
compliance memoranda are designated as ECM and the year and number:
(ECM 95-2).
D. How to use this handbook
This handbook contains the basic information you need
for meeting the legal requirements of NEPA and for practicing excellent
impact assessment and resource conservation. Also, NPs employees who deal
with NEPA on a regular basis should receive training that is periodically
updated, so that the goals of NEPA are met throughout all levels of NPs
NPs also has guidance on related topics, such as planning, cultural resource
protection, and natural resource management.
Much of the handbook uses the pronoun you
to speak to the reader. You may be an individual from the
park, a system support office (SSO), a regional office, a member of a
NEPA interdisciplinary team (IDT), a decision-maker, or any other NPs
staff or contractor responsible for some piece of the NEPA process.
View
links to all Director's Orders
Read
the Memorandum and Director's Order 12 (Get
the Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader 5.0 to read the document.)
<<Return
to home page
Continue
to next section>>
Return to top of page
|