NEPA Process and Specific Requirements - Environmental Impact Analysis: Process and Methods - page 55

3
NEPA Process and Specific Requirements
The preceding chapter summarized the requirements of the National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act (NEPA) and this chapter addresses meeting those
requirements. The process of implementing NEPA mandates is first pre-
sented based on a flow diagram and is followed by a discussion of elements
in the process that are NEPA specific. Although several of the NEPA-specific
elements can be useful tools in any environmental impact analysis, they have
unique application in NEPA and therefore are discussed in this chapter. The
elements that are universal to any environmental impact analysis, including
NEPA, are only briefly mentioned in this chapter but discussed in detail in
the context of an overall impact analysis approach presented in Chapters 4
and 5. Following a discussion of the NEPA process, the critical elements cen-
tral to NEPA compliance are discussed in detail. These include purpose and
need for the proposed action, categorical exclusions, and NEPA enforcement.
In some ways this chapter may seem out of sequence because many of the
NEPA-specific aspects of analysis are best considered within the context of
an overall environmental impact analysis (Chapters 4 and 5). However, it is
important to point out that NEPA specifics immediately follow the history
and requirements of NEPA (i.e., Chapter 2). Thus it may be beneficial to the
reader to revisit some sections of this chapter after studying the overall envi-
ronmental impact analysis and assessment approaches presented in the fol-
lowing chapters.
There is an important aspect of NEPA that is not discussed in either this or the
preceding NEPA-focused chapters: multilevel environmental impact analysis.
The concept of a phased approach to environmental impact analysis is embodied
in both NEPA and the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) implement-
ing regulations, but the approach is not unique to NEPA. A phased approach,
which can successfully increase efficiency, focus the analysis, and reduce dupli-
cation, is an important environmental impact analysis tool for any situation, not
just NEPA. Thus this concept warrants separate discussion and is presented in
Chapter 6 as it applies to NEPA and environmental impact analysis in general.
3.1 NEPAProcess
NEPA requirements are summarized in Sections 2.2 and 2.3 of the topic,
but implementation of requirements is actually a process and best explained
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