California Environmental Quality Act Vs CEQA

Comparing in detail the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) would take writing a small book. So, in order to answer this question effectively, key terms will be used and described briefly to compare them both. As stated in question 1, NEPA was the first law to put the spotlight on environmental issues with an all embracing national policy. NEPA mandates federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions. On the other hand, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), is a statute that requires state and local agencies to identify the significant environmental impacts of their actions, and to avoid or mitigate those impacts, if …show more content…
The CEQA applies to certain activities of state and local public agencies. A public agency must comply with CEQA when it undertakes an activity defined by CEQA as a "project." A project is an activity undertaken by a public agency or a private activity which must receive some discretionary approval (meaning that the agency has the authority to deny the requested permit or approval), from a government agency which may cause either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect change in the environment. (resources.ca.gov). NEPA is codified under title 40 of the Federal Regulations sections (40 CFR 1500 et seq.), while CEQA is codified under California’s Public Resources Code (Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 21000 et seq.) …show more content…
For instance, both require analyses, public engagement, and document preparation. Most importantly, both laws urge a joint Federal and state review process that require both state and federal approval (engergy.gov). That being stated, there are many differences that usually require careful coordination between Federal and state agencies responsible for implementing NEPA and CEQA. Here are the main differences: (1) NEPA calls a project a “proposed action”, while CEQA calls it a “proposed project.” (2) Scoping under NEPA includes a public notice and a public hearing when drafting an EIS (not necessary for FONSI). Under CEQA public notice is required for all environmental documentation, but a public hearing is not compulsory. (3) Under NEPA, the proposed action and all alternatives must be evaluated equally, while under CEQA alternatives do not need evaluation at the same level of detail; moreover, NEPA requires alternatives to have the same objectives as the proposed action, while under CEQA alternatives most lower environmental impacts and achieve “most” of the purposes of the proposed project. (4) A timeline under NEPA for environmental setting is not given, however, CEQA establishes a timeline for ES evaluations. (5) Under CEQA an initial checklist for the study exists, while NEPA does not have anything similar to it. (6) Documents are named differently for NEPA and CEQA. (7) A Mitigation Monitoring and