Applying the NEPA Process and Writing Effective NEPA Documents for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Actions

Description

Participants in this highly-acclaimed training workshop learn how to fulfill the spirit and letter of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the White House Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA Implementing Regulations, and the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Order 1050.1F Environmental Impacts:  Policies and Procedures while participating in the NEPA process for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) actions. Resource specialists and scientists, project managers, editors, engineers, consultants, attorneys and other key participants in the FAA NEPA process who carefully manage the NEPA process will generate better NEPA documents that require less preparation time, and that facilitate informed decisions and specific comments. Participants will learn to identify the appropriate form of environmental documentation and the appropriate level of detail for NEPA compliance.

Objectives

Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to do the following:

  • Manage the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process so that the spirit and the letter of the act are fulfilled legally and efficiently

  • Properly implement the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA Implementing Regulations and key CEQ guidance documents

  • Properly implement FAA’s ) Order 1050.1F Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures and FAA Order 5050.4B National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing Instructions for Airport Actions

  • Oversee contractors who conduct environmental analyses and/or write Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs)

  • Choose the correct level of NEPA compliance (CE, EA or EIS)

  • Review the following documents for compliance with NEPA, CEQ regulations, and FAA implementing procedures:

    • EAs

    • EISs

    • Records Of Decision (RODs)

    • Findings Of No Significant Impact (FONSIs)

  • Write high-quality EAs, EISs, FONSIs, Notices Of Intent (NOIs), and other environmental documents using approved NEPA, CEQ, Government Printing Office (GPO), and FAA-specific guidelines

  • Developing a proper Purpose and Need statement

  • Developing Alternatives
    Discover how to develop a reasonable range of alternatives.

  • Identifying Issues and Scoping
    Learn to define cause-and-effect relationships, plan public involvement strategies, assemble records, and identify other relevant environmental laws.

  • Predicting Environmental Consequences
    Learn a systematic process for quantitatively and qualitatively predicting effects.

  • Understanding NEPA Decisionmaking and Decisionmaker Skills
    Understand the legal roles of FONSIs and RODs. Learn skills to identify the actions needed.

Audience

Participants for this training generally include resource specialists and scientists, project managers, team leaders, decisionmakers, editors, engineers, consultants, attorneys and other key participants in the FAA NEPA process who must understand the FAA’s NEPA process to fully execute their responsibilities.

Process

This is an interactive workshop designed to build practical skills. For optimum learning, class size is limited to between 15 and 25 participants. This 2 or 3-day workshop consists of a carefully designed combination of the following:

  • 40% Lecture

  • 60% Discussion and exercises

Materials

Participants receive the following:

  • Comprehensive Workshop Manual

  • Workshop Resources Workbook