Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
to evaluate environmental impacts. Equally important, the exposure to day-
light and availability of all information used in the decision facilitate any litiga-
tion efforts following an agency's decision. As discussed later (in Section  3.7,
NEPA Enforcement, of the topic) the courts have played a major role in dein-
ing NEPA procedures and the publicly accessible information required by the
CEQ Regulations and NEPA are frequently the critical factors in facilitating
challenges.
The lack of public input and readily available information can create a very
different environmental protection picture. Many authoritarian governments
have environmental regulations in place, and frequently they are stricter and
more in command and control than NEPA. However, they frequently lack the
“daylighting” requirement.* In some cases the environmental analysis docu-
ment is held confidentially by the environmental agency and the public is not
even allowed to see the backup for the analyses or even the final document. In
such situations public input is often not part of the process initially or some-
times it is never part of the process. This lack of public exposure and limited
input creates a culture where agencies and private entities can further their
objectives without meaningful consideration of the natural or social environ-
ment if they can gain the support of a select few influential people or groups.
2.3.2
CEQ Regulations' Relationship to Other Statutes
CEQ Regulations recognize the integrated nature of environmental protec-
tion and as described in §1502.25 the regulations specify procedures for com-
pliance with other environmental legislation in addition to NEPA including:
r Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.)
r Section 309 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7609)
r Executive Order 11514 Protection and Enhancement of Environmental
Quality
The CEQ Regulations (§1502.25[a]) also address the integration of environ-
mental protection by citing other federal environmental requirements that
must be addressed during the NEPA process, including:
r Endangered Species Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 1534 et seq.)
r National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.)
r Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661 et seq.)
In addition, there are numerous other regulations and environmental
permit requirements that should be considered and addressed as part of the
NEPA process (Table 2.2).
* Author's personal experience in the Middle East, Asia, and South America.
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