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A Systematic Tool for Determining the Need for Specialized Expertise in NEPA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2005

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Environmental impact statements (EISs) and environmental assessments (EAs) are optimally authored by interdisciplinary teams comprised of specialists assigned to each environmental resource that is potentially subject to significant impacts. A typical team might include a biologist for addressing wildlife and threatened and endangered species, an economist for addressing employment and social services, a hydrologist or geo-hydrologist for addressing water resources, an archaeologist or historian for addressing cultural resources, and an urban planner for addressing land use and transportation. From its inception, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has directed agencies to use a “systematic, interdisciplinary approach” to ensure the “integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the environmental design arts” [42 USC 4322(2)]. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has stated that the disciplines of EIS preparers should “be appropriate to the scope and issues identified in the scoping process” (40 CFR 1502.6).

Type
PERSPECTIVE
Copyright
© 2003 National Association of Environmental Professionals