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The 89th Lessons Learned Quarterly Report highlights “Making NEPA Connections,” the October 2016 meeting of DOE’s NEPA Compliance Officers (NCOs), including presentations by Ted Boling, Associate Director for NEPA, Council on Environmental Quality, and Rob Tomiak, Director, Office of Federal Activities, Environmental Protection Agency. This issue also includes articles on EPA’s “EJ 2020” Action Agenda, implementing CEQ’s NEPA guidance on considering greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, and DOE guidance on EIS and EA distribution.

DOE announces the release of guidance on EIS and EA Distribution. This Guidance contains recommendations for the efficient and effective distribution of a draft, final, or supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS), and includes recommendations for the distribution of environmental assessments. When he approved the Guidance, Steve Croley, DOE General Counsel, approved two variances to DOE NEPA Order 451.1B, NEPA Compliance Program that are indicated in the memo inside the front cover. 

The 88th Lessons Learned Quarterly Report highlights the Council on Environmental Quality final guidance on climate change, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service migratory bird training, an updated Environmental Protection Agency screening tool for environmental justice analysis, and contributions by our summer interns.

CEQ released its Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of Climate Change in National Environmental Policy Act Reviews. The guidance provides a framework for agencies to consider both the effects of a proposed action on climate change, as indicated by its estimated greenhouse gas emissions, and the effects of climate change on a proposed action. 

DOE Offices are encouraged to be inclusive in providing potentially interested parties with opportunities to review NEPA documents.  The Directory of Potential Stakeholders for DOE Actions under NEPA, updated in July, 2016, is primarily intended to supplement lists that Departmental Offices compile for individual projects or facilities.  It complements the EIS Distribution Guidance.

The Environmental Justice (EJ) Interagency Working Group (IWG) Promising Practices report is a compilation of approaches that the NEPA Committee gleaned from an almost 4-year review of agency practices. 

To learn more and download the document, see www.energy.gov/node/1679486.

The 86th Lessons Learned Quarterly Report highlights practices to improve NEPA implementation for environmental justice and public access to references; these practices remind us of NEPA’s emphasis on meaningful public involvement.

The 85th Lessons Learned Quarterly Report features Administration changes in environmental policy to better account for climate change and improve watershed- and landscape-scale planning. 

The 85th Lessons Learned Quarterly Report features Administration changes in environmental policy to better account for climate change and improve watershed- and landscape-scale planning. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that the interagency Water Resources Council  issued "Guidelines for Implementing Executive Order 11988, Floodplain Management, and Executive Order 13690, Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input" (Guidelines), effective October 8, 2015.