Preliminary Assessment of Mitigation Performance under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): In Selected Cases from Region 1, U.S. EPA

摘要

The report is part of the National Network for Environmental Management Studies under the auspices of the Office of Cooperative Environmental Management of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The use of mitigation to satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for major federal actions is an important, frequently controversial, feature of the NEPA process. Increasingly, environmental impact statements (EIS) rely on mitigation to defend the feasibility of project design and selection. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plays a crucial role in the NEPA process under their mandate to review and comment on proposed mitigation actions, and through negotiation with lead agencies and other parties. Wide variation exists in project proposals subject to NEPA review and in the detail given to mitigation. The report is a preliminary assessment of whether commitments to mitigate environmental damage were kept and what factors influenced mitigation performance. Four completed NEPA cases in the New England Region of EPA (Region I) were examined where mitigation was a key determinant in the selection of the final project alternative in an EIS. Research consisted of a combination of personal interviews, site visits, and review of state, federal and local documents.