Final Report Released:
NEPA Task Force
**NEW**
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Final NEPA Task Force Report

Task Force Issues Draft Findings and Recommendations
Opens 45 day comment period

Washington, DC - Today, after completing seven months of public hearings around the United States, the House Task Force on Updating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) issued its draft findings and recommendations on improving the Act. The findings and recommendations are open to public comment for 45 days. Following the comment period, the Task Force will prepare a final report early next year. MORE...

NEPA Task Force Report

NEPA: What Needs Fixing, What Doesn't, And How Would You Fix It?
Environmental Law Institute Forum

Ranchers rallied before the second NEPA taskforce hearing June 11 in Lakeside, AZ .

Lakeside, AZ Slideshow

When NEPA was signed into law in 1970, it was meant to be a "Declaration of National Environmental Policy" for the federal government. To meet this goal the federal government is required to consider environmental factors and impacts in decision-making.

NEPA analyses are required for many federal actions and permits including, timber harvests, mining permits and leases for oil and gas exploration.

However, NEPA also applies to other projects. NEPA can require analyses for housing developements, infastructure for travel and commutting, water and irrigation projects, wildlife restortion and habitat management, airport management and even miltary bases.

Courts and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) have found some leeway in NEPA in the national security context:

“Thus, while Congress hoped to compel the considerations of environmental concerns in significant federal actions, Congress also recognized that 'essential considerations of national policy' could prevent the meticulous application of NEPA.”

Valley Citizens for a Safe Env't v. Vest, 22 ELR 20355 (D. Mass. May 6, 1991) citing Kleppe v. Sierra Club, 427 U.S. 390, 421 (1976) (Marshall, J. dissenting)