Environmental Law - Enablement Theory and the Environmental Impact Statement Requirement
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Authors
Schneider, Margaret
Issue Date
1981
Volume
14
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)|The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 was designed to instill environmental concern into governmental decisionmaking. Perhaps the most significant provision of NEPA is section 102(2) (c) requiring a federal agency to file an environmental impact statement (EIS) for "major [f]ederal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment". The EIS requirement forces agencies to consider environmental factors in decision-making.|However, a federal agency can avoid the restrictions of the EIS requirement, for it is the federal agency which initially determines whether to file an EIS. The agency can decide that an EIS is inapplicable by concluding that the proposed activity either fails to be "a major federal action" or fails to significantly affect the environment. After such a negative determination, often based on a superficial environmental assessment, an agency ends its environmental inquiry...
Description
Citation
14 Creighton L. Rev. 1156 (1980-1981)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law