On December 18, 2014, the President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued the Final Guidance on Effective Use of Programmatic NEPA Reviews (Programmatic NEPA Guidance). This guidance is part of the Administration’s attempt to bring up to date federal agency implementation of NEPA to improve the involvement of the public, transparency, and efficiency of environmental reviews. Under NEPA, a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) is created for an extensive federal action, such as the adoption of a plan, policy, program, or regulation. 40 C.F.R. 1502.4(b). Often referred to as a “strategic environmental assessment” by NEPA professionals, the programmatic EIS must put emphasis on comprehensive federal proposals and be
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The CEQ’s latest programmatic NEPA guidance is aimed to promote a more effective method to programmatic NEPA review, by guiding when and how federal agencies should use programmatic environmental analyses in accordance with NEPA, and the CEQ Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provision of NEPA, 40 C.F.R. parts 1500-15008 (CEQ Regulations) (whitehouse.gov). These are four of the key provisions of the guidance:
1.) In regards to projects or programs meriting programmatic review, the guidance states that programmatic NEPA reviews can be valuable for an agency to analyze “a large or multi-faceted action without becoming immersed in all the details of future site- or project-specific proposals.” Moreover, it adds that “using programmatic and subsequent tiered NEPA review effectively will allow for a focused review at the proper level.” Some examples given are: “rulemaking at the national or regional level; adoption of an agency-wide policy; or redesign of an existing program”. (Page …show more content…
The guidance states that “impacts in a programmatic NEPA review typically concern environmental effects over a large geographic and/or time horizon, the depth and detail in programmatic analyses will reflect the major broad and general impacts that might result from making broad programmatic decisions.” (page23) Impacts are often discussed in a far-reaching geographic and temporal framework with focus on cumulative impacts. Those impacts can often be shown in a meaningful way by displaying a range of potential effects
The CEQ’s latest programmatic NEPA guidance is aimed to promote a more effective method to programmatic NEPA review, by guiding when and how federal agencies should use programmatic environmental analyses in accordance with NEPA, and the CEQ Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provision of NEPA, 40 C.F.R. parts 1500-15008 (CEQ Regulations) (whitehouse.gov). These are four of the key provisions of the guidance:
1.) In regards to projects or programs meriting programmatic review, the guidance states that programmatic NEPA reviews can be valuable for an agency to analyze “a large or multi-faceted action without becoming immersed in all the details of future site- or project-specific proposals.” Moreover, it adds that “using programmatic and subsequent tiered NEPA review effectively will allow for a focused review at the proper level.” Some examples given are: “rulemaking at the national or regional level; adoption of an agency-wide policy; or redesign of an existing program”. (Page …show more content…
The guidance states that “impacts in a programmatic NEPA review typically concern environmental effects over a large geographic and/or time horizon, the depth and detail in programmatic analyses will reflect the major broad and general impacts that might result from making broad programmatic decisions.” (page23) Impacts are often discussed in a far-reaching geographic and temporal framework with focus on cumulative impacts. Those impacts can often be shown in a meaningful way by displaying a range of potential effects