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The Environmental Debate, 3rd Edition

Document 111: National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (1970)

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), signed into law by President Richard Nixon on January 1, 1970, set the stage for much of the environmental legislation passed in the 1970s. Its impact on economic and technological development in the United States has been broader than that of any other environmental legislation. Under this law, all federal agencies and departments are required to “monitor, evaluate, and control” their activities to protect and enhance the quality of the environment. The agencies must inform the public of their actions, review alternate courses of action, and allow the public to comment on those actions.

The law generated new power for the public and for organizations concerned with environmental issues. It also caused the creation of new divisions of law firms and corporations dealing in areas of the environment in which conflict might occur.

The environmental impact statement, the public document required by NEPA for any significant development involving a federal agency, became the focal point for many environmental battles.

Sec. 101. (a) The Congress, recognizing the profound impact of man’s activity on the interrelations of all components of the natural environment, particularly the profound influences of population growth, high-density urbanization, industrial expansion, resource exploitation, and new and expanding technological advances and recognizing further the critical importance of restoring and maintaining environmental quality to the overall welfare and development of man, declares that it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government, in cooperation with State and local governments, and other concerned public and private organizations, to use all practicable means and measures, including financial and technical assistance, in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.

(b) In order to carry out the policy set forth in this Act, it is the continuing responsibility of the Federal Government to use all practicable means, consistent with other essential considerations of national policy, to improve and coordinate Federal plans, functions, programs, and resources to the end that the Nation may—

(1) fulfill the responsibilities of each generation as trustee of the environment for succeeding generations;

(2) assure for all Americans safe, healthful, productive, and esthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings;

(3) attain the widest range of beneficial uses of the environment without degradation, risk to health or safety, or other undesirable and unintended consequences;

(4) preserve important historic, cultural, and natural aspects of our national heritage, and maintain, wherever possible, an environment which supports diversity and variety of individual choice;

(5) achieve a balance between population and resource use which will permit high standards of living and a wide sharing of life’s amenities; and

(6) enhance the quality of renewable resources and approach the maximum attainable recycling of depletable resources.

(c) The Congress recognizes that each person should enjoy a healthful environment and that each person has a responsibility to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of the environment.

Sec. 102. The Congress authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent possible: (1) the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United States shall be interpreted and administered in accordance with the policies set forth in this Act, and (2) all agencies of the Federal Government shall—

  • (A) utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach which will insure the integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the environmental design arts in planning and in decisionmaking which may have an impact on man’s environment;

  • (B) identify and develop methods and procedures, in consultation with the Council on Environmental Quality established by subchapter II of this Act, which will insure that presently unquantified environmental amenities and values may be given appropriate consideration in decisionmaking along with economic and technical considerations;

  • (C) include in every recommendation or report on proposals for legislation and other major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, a detailed statement by the responsible official on—

    • (i) the environmental impact of the proposed action,

    • (ii) any adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided should the proposal be implemented,

    • (iii) alternatives to the proposed action,

    • (iv) the relationship between local short-term uses of man’s environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity, and

    • (v) any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources which would be involved in the proposed action should it be implemented.

Prior to making any detailed statement, the responsible Federal official shall consult with and obtain the comments of any Federal agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved. Copies of such statement and the comments and views of the appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies, which are authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards, shall be made available to the President, the Council on Environmental Quality and to the public. . . .

  • (D) study, develop, and describe appropriate alternatives to recommended courses of action in any proposal which involves unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of available resources;

  • (E) recognize the worldwide and long-range character of environmental problems and, where consistent with the foreign policy of the United States, lend appropriate support to initiatives, resolutions, and programs designed to maximize international cooperation in anticipating and preventing a decline in the quality of mankind’s world environment.

  • (F) make available to States, counties, municipalities, institutions, and individuals, advice and information useful in restoring maintaining, and enhancing the quality of the environment;

  • (G) initiate and utilize ecological information in the planning and development of resource-oriented projects; and

  • (H) assist the Council on Environmental Quality.

Source: Public Law 91-190, United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 83 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1970), 91st Cong., 1st Sess., January 1, 1970, pp. 852-54.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"Document 111: National Environmental Policy Act Of 1969 (1970)." The Environmental Debate, 3rd Edition, edited by Peninah Neimark & Peter Rhoades Mott, Salem Press, 2017. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Envd3e_0121.
APA 7th
Document 111: National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (1970). The Environmental Debate, 3rd Edition, In P. Neimark & P. R. Mott (Eds.), Salem Press, 2017. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Envd3e_0121.
CMOS 17th
"Document 111: National Environmental Policy Act Of 1969 (1970)." The Environmental Debate, 3rd Edition, Edited by Peninah Neimark & Peter Rhoades Mott. Salem Press, 2017. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Envd3e_0121.