Preparing NEPA Environmental Assessments A User’s Guide to Best Professional Practices

Although upwards of 50,000 environmental assessments (EAs) are prepared annually—compared to some 500 environmental impact statements (EISs)—the focus of U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations is on defining requirements for preparing EISs. Written by Charles Eccleston and J. Peyton Doub, who have established themselves among the top environmental experts in the world, Preparing NEPA Environmental Assessments: A User’s Guide to Best Professional Practices fills the need for an authoritative and comprehensive guide on how to prepare EAs. Bridging the regulatory gap, this book identifies relevant EIS regulatory requirements that can be logically interpreted to also apply to EAs. It compiles and synthesizes information scattered throughout NEPA’s regulations, executive orders, and guidance documents, and incorporates case law to provide additional clarification. The authors also draw on the professional experiences and best professional practices (BPP) of NEPA practitioners. From the fundamentals to more advanced topics, the book presents a consistent methodology to help beginners, students, and professionals manage, analyze, and write legally sufficient EAs. It addresses dilemmas that have traditionally plagued preparation of EAs, provides BPPs, tools, and approaches for resolving problems, and introduces methods for streamlining the EA process. Building on Eccleston’s previous guide to EAs, Effective Environmental Assessments: How to Manage and Prepare NEPA Assessments (2001), this book reflects the rapid changes in government policy over the past ten years. An indispensable source of practical information, it provides readers with step-by-step direction and best practices for preparing defensible EAs.

Section 1: The NEPA Environmental Assessment ProcessOverview and Historical Development of NEPAIntroductionOrigin of Environmental MovementThe Historical Development of NEPABrief Overview of NEPAThe NEPA RegulationsOverview of the NEPA Planning ProcessReferencesGeneral Concepts and RequirementsIntroductionNEPA is a Planning and Decision-Making ProcessInterim ActionsIntegrating NEPA with Other RequirementsConducting an Early and Open ProcessScopingSystematic and Interdisciplinary PlanningWriting Documents in Plain EnglishIncorporation by ReferenceAdopting Another Agency’s EAMethodologyA Fair and Objective AnalysisDealing with Incomplete and Unavailable InformationReferencesNEPA and Environmental Impact AnalysisIntroductionActionsEnvironmental DisturbancesReceptors and ResourcesImpact AnalysisSignificanceMitigation and MonitoringReferencesThe Threshold Question: Determining Whether an EA or an EIS is RequiredIntroductionProposalsLegislationMajorFederalActionsSignificantlyAffectingHuman EnvironmentCategorical ExclusionsLong Versus Short Environmental AssessmentsReferencesThe Environmental Assessment ProcessIntroductionPlanning the Environmental AssessmentThe Analysis in an EAStreamlining the EA Compliance ProcessIssuing a Finding of No Significant ImpactThe Administrative RecordServing as an Expert WitnessReferencesThe Environmental Impact AssessmentIntroductionSliding-Scale ApproachIdentifying AlternativesImpactsHuman Health EffectsAccident AnalysesConsidering Other Environmental RequirementsEnvironmental JusticeReferencesWriting the Environmental AssessmentIntroductionGeneral Direction for Preparing an EATypical Contents of an Environmental AssessmentPerforming the AnalysisSpecific Documentation Requirements and GuidanceReferencesAssessing SignificanceIntroductionDefinitions and Use of the Term "Significance"General Procedure for Determining SignificanceSignificant Beneficial ImpactsReferencesThe Finding of No Significant ImpactsIntroductionReaching a Determination of NonsignificancePreparing the FONSIMitigated FONSIsReferencesSection 2: NEPA Case Law and Non-NEPA Environmental Assessment Documents An Overview of NEPA Law and LitigationPrinciples Underlying Legal Interpretations of NEPAProcess for Passing Laws and RegulationsInterpreting NEPA’s Regulatory RequirementsA Substantive Versus Procedural ProcessRequirements for Bringing a Successful Environmental LawsuitThe Litigation ProcessLegal Standards Applied in Reviewing NEPAJudicial Remedies in NEPA SuitsRecent Case Law Involving NEPAEA Case Law and EAsStudy of Alternatives Analysis in NEPA DocumentsOther Cases Reflecting on the Preparation of EAsReferencesSpecialized Non-NEPA Environmental Assessment DocumentsIntroductionThe Phase I Environmental Site AssessmentThe Cell Tower NEPA ReviewThe Biological AssessmentEnvironmental Assessments and State NEPA ProgramsReferencesSummaryIntroduction Index

Charles H. Eccleston is listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who in America as a nationally recognized NEPA authority. He is a consultant, author, and lecturer with some 30 years experience in NEPA, environmental policy, and analyzing the impacts of projects and energy-related policies. He also frequently consults on NEPA lawsuits. He is the author of nine books and 80 professional publications. Some of his recent books include: Environmental Impact Assessment: A Guide to Best Professional Practices Inside Energy: Developing and Managing an ISO 50001 Energy Management System Global Environmental Policy: Concepts, Principles, and Practice NEPA and Environmental Planning: Tools, Techniques, and Approaches for Practitioners J. Peyton Doub, CEP, PWS, is an Environmental Scientist and expert in preparing EAs. He has more than 20 years experience preparing EAs and EISs, wetlands and natural resources investigations, and other environmental reports. He is the author of The Endangered Species Act: History, Implementation, Successes, and Controversies (CRC Press, 2012).