Description
Book SynopsisAlthough upwards of 50,000 environmental assessments (EAs) are prepared annuallycompared to some 500 environmental impact statements (EISs)the focus of U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations is on defining requirements for preparing EISs. Written by Charles Eccleston and J. Peyton Doub, who have established themselves among the top environmental experts in the world, Preparing NEPA Environmental Assessments: A User's Guide to Best Professional Practices fills the need for an authoritative and comprehensive guide on how to prepare EAs.
Bridging the regulatory gap, this book identifies relevant EIS regulatory requirements that can be logically interpreted to also apply to EAs. It compiles and synthesizes information scattered throughout NEPA's regulations, executive orders, and guidance documents, and incorporates case law to provide additional clarification. The authors also draw on the professional experiences and best profe
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Praise for the previous book, Effective Environmental Assessments: How to Manage and Write NEPA Assessments (CRC Press, 2001):
"Mr. Eccleston has written a most thorough guide to managing and preparing EAs that puts NEPA back into its original perspective—a planning and decision-making tool … comprehensively covers the EA process … provides practical guidance for effectively preparing an analysis …"
—Mr. Russell W. Peterson, Former Governor of Delaware and Former Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
"NEPA is the cornerstone of our environmental statutory structure and provides a strategic look for long-range planning. By explaining the environmental assessment process in a scholarly, yet easily understandable way, Charles Eccleston has performed an enormous service for all who care about the protection of our country's—and indeed the world's—environment."
—Michael R. Deland, Former Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality
"Charles Eccleston has performed a real service in authoring Effective Environmental Assessments: How to Manage and Write NEPA Assessments. The book fills a void and concentrates on environmental assessments, a critical but underemphasized part of the NEPA process. It is, furthermore, both useful and user-friendly."
—Nicholas C. Yost, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, former General Counsel of the CEQ charged with responsibility for writing the 1978 CEQ NEPA Regulations
Table of ContentsThe NEPA Environmental Assessment Process: Overview and Historical Development of NEPA. General Concepts and Requirements. NEPA and Environmental Impact Analysis. The Threshold Question: Determining Whether an EA or an EIS is Required. The Environmental Assessment Process. The Environmental Impact Assessment. Writing the Environmental Assessment. Assessing Significance. The Finding of No Significant Impacts. NEPA Case Law and Non-NEPA Environmental Assessment Documents: An Overview of NEPA Law and Litigation. Specialized Non-NEPA Environmental Assessment Documents. Summary. Index.
