Summary of the National Environmental Policy Act and Implementing Regulations - Environmental Impact Analysis: Process and Methods - page 20

functions and specific requirements are necessary. NEPA makes provi-
sions for requirements, such as public disclosure, mandatory consultation
with resource agencies and states, and perhaps most importantly a detailed
statement of environmental analysis and impacts. These requirements
are established in Title I; Section 102 of NEPA, which sets forth the most
basic specifications and requirements to implement the Act. Most of these
requirements come into play when implementing NEPA and are discussed
in detail in Chapter 3; however, several warrant separate discussion (see
Sections 2.2.3-2.2.4). Also some of the requirements are conceptual and non-
specific with implications to the intent of NEPA and environmental analysis
in general. These conceptual requirements are outlined and the implications
discussed subsequently in this section.
The first conceptual requirement specified under NEPA is for federal agen-
cies to “ utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach which will insure the inte-
grated use of the natural and social sciences and the environmental design arts in
planning and in decision making which may have an impact on man's environment”
(Sec. 201 A) . There is a very good reason that the CEQ Regulations (§1501.2[a])
use the term “interdisciplinary” rather than multidisciplinary. CEQ recog-
nized the importance of looking at all disciplines, such as air, water, ecol-
ogy, hydrology, traffic, community services, noise, etc., in a multidisciplinary
approach. But they also recognized the necessity of bringing the potential
effects and benefits in each of these areas together in an integrated fash-
ion and interdisciplinary approach. This is the only rational and efficient
approach to even begin making comparisons and trade-offs among criti-
cal environmental resources and making complex decisions that can affect
multiple environmental resources.
The integration of disciplines, a novel idea in the early 1970s, was in its
infancy, but NEPA recognized the critical necessity to incorporate it into
environmental analysis. The primary goals and ultimate benefits of NEPA
and any environmental analysis are to make better decisions, taking into
account environmental resources. The goal is not to consider only single or
selected environmental resources in making the decision but rather the envi-
ronment as a whole. Another advantage of an interdisciplinary approach
results from a primary law of ecology that “everything affects everything
else.” Thus considering water quality as an example, recreational use can
affect water quality, which in turn can affect aquatic biota habitats. The
integration of these topics and coordination of the technical professionals
working in each area are necessary to understanding these relationships and
taking them into account while predicting impacts and comparing alterna-
tives. Without an integration of all the environmental resources in an “inter-
disciplinary” approach the goal of adequately considering the environment
cannot be achieved.
The comparison of alternatives and selection of a proposed action is per-
haps where the benefit of an interdisciplinary approach is most apparent. For
example, in even a moderately complex project and associated environmental