This course will provide an introduction to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), including policies, procedures, and environmental documents necessary for successful compliance. It is primarily designed for new and mid-level NEPA practitioners and will inform agency staff, consultants, regulators, applicants and other interested professionals about best NEPA practices. NEPA is a far-reaching law that applies to virtually all U.S. federal agencies and most activities that affect the environment. Many state, local, and private undertakings must be evaluated pursuant to NEPA if they receive federal funding, require federal permits or would take place on federal land. Course topics include:
-
NEPA’s legal and regulatory framework
-
Determining whether NEPA applies to a proposed action
-
Key steps in the NEPA environmental review process
-
Determining which type of NEPA document to prepare
-
Scoping for NEPA analyses
-
Successful integration of NEPA with other environmental laws
-
Direct, indirect, and cumulative impact analysis
-
Determining significance of impacts
-
Developing and evaluating a reasonable range of alternatives
-
Writing adequate and feasible mitigation measures
-
Legal adequacy of NEPA documents and NEPA case law