What is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)?
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970 is considered the Magna Carta of all United States federal, state, and local environmental laws. This interagency act requires multiple federal agencies to consider the environmental consequences of any action they fund, authorize, or carry out. Projects on federal lands or projects using federal funding are subject to a rigorous environmental review process following the guidelines of the national environmental policy. As an executive order, this act establishes and empowers the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to help protect and regulate our environment.
Each federal agency implements its NEPA requirements differently. Some federal agencies require a detailed NEPA review process, while others have created blanket permits for streamlined NEPA procedures and compliance.
Contact the applicable federal land management agency or funding agency early on in the development cycle to determine the level of environmental review necessary for your project. NEPA environmental review can be a long, complex process that significantly affects the project schedule.
Visit the NEPA website here.
A Brief History of NEPA
Before the 1960s, environmental awareness in the United States was virtually nonexistent. The Lacey Act of 1900 prohibited illegal plant and animal trade, the Antiquities Act of 1906 preserved national monuments, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 was passed in response to over-hunting. Still, the United States had no laws targeting the impacts of human-centered activities on the environment, nor did anyone seem to care.
In the 1960s, following the release of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962), the Cuyahoga River fire in Ohio (1969), and public backlash from the Interstate Highway System, public concern for environmental effects heightened. Decades of increased urbanization, industrial expansion, and environmental exploitation that put many natural resources at risk. Following a congressional investigation into federal mismanagement of the country's environmental resources, President Nixon created the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and officially signed it into law on January 1, 1970.
In the Act, Congress stated that "it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government, in cooperation with State and local governments, and other concerned public and private organizations, to use all practicable means and measures... to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans."
Learn more about NEPA’s history.
These decisions were major federal actions that have set the framework for modern environmental legislation. NEPA implementation has helped protect and save many natural resources, and its work continues today.
