Overview of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Requirements (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 12, 2011 |
| Report Number |
RS20621 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Kristina Alexander, Legislative Attorney |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) establishes environmental policies that apply tothe federal government, but it is best known for imposing environmental review procedures onfederal agency actions. NEPA requires agencies to review the potential environmental impacts oftheir projects, recording their review in a publicly available document. There are three types ofenvironmental documents, based on the type of review: a categorical exclusion (CE), anenvironmental 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 theirdecisions 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 environmentalconsequence. This report is intended as a general introduction to NEPA, analyzing what NEPArequires for those three types of environmental documents.
