Issues Based NEPA

Description

Concern that compliance with NEPA is too time consuming and results in lengthy environmental documents has been around for decades.  To address this concern, some Federal agencies have begun to develop issued-based NEPA analyses. This workshop is designed to help NEPA practitioners understand how to undertake an issued-based analysis that will help them emphasize important environmental issues, determine reasonable alternatives, and focus technical analyses.  A range of best practices for focusing the analysis includes using scoping to identify issues, integrating issues into the purpose of the action, generating and streamlining alternatives to address issues, and focusing the analyses on issues.  The workshop also evaluates options for organizing NEPA documents around issues. The workshop draws on information from CEQ regulations and guidance, NEPA case law, and additional guidance from agencies and CEQ for developing issue-based analyses.

Objectives

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

  • Understand the existing statutory and regulatory policies regarding how issues can help streamline analysis and documentation.

  • Apply techniques for improving the efficiency of the NEPA process including scoping, developing the purpose and need, identifying alternatives and effects, and involving the public.

  • Use the scoping process, including interagency cooperation, to ensure the development, construct, and NEPA analysis revolves around issues.

  • Know how to accurately describe an issue in clear language that will efficiently drive the environmental analysis.

  • Use writing and document organization techniques to prepare issue-based NEPA analyses and documents.

Content

The basic format of the one-day workshop includes the following components:

  • Unit 1: Review existing statutory, regulatory and administrative initiatives for issue-based environmental analyses.

  • Unit 2: Identify techniques for integrating issues into the problem framing process; scoping and developing a purpose and need.

  • Unit 3: Examine approaches for designing alternatives and structuring the effects analysis around issues.

  • Unit 4: Learn ways of applying issue-based NEPA analysis to programmatic documents and MOUs.

  • Unit 5:  Recognize techniques for structuring your NEPA documents around issues; including story boarding, use of graphics, and specialist reports.

  • Unit 6:  Ensure the planning record reflects how scoping and evaluating were used to identify issues and drive the environmental analysis. 

 

Audience

Participants generally include NEPA practitioners such as resource specialists, team leaders, decisionmakers, writers and editors, and other agency professionals with some NEPA experience.  Participants must come with an understanding of NEPA, CEQ regulations, and related policies and guidance. 

Process

This is an interactive workshop designed to build an overall understanding of the process used for developing issue-based analyses and documents for NEPA compliance. For optimum learning, class size is limited to 15-25 participants.

This workshop consists of a carefully designed combination of the following:

  • 30% Lecture

  • 30% Discussion

  • 40% Exercises and Case Studies

Materials

Participants in the workshop will receive the following:

  • Presentation handouts

  • Student reference manual

  • Case study handouts and exercises