Project: NEPA

Improvement Recomendations

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-National Initiative for Alternative Energy?

-Fuel Alternatives/Incentives

-New policies for "Green" Building/Construction

-Too large of an organization?

Appropriateness and Effectiveness

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" state of cheerful chaos"

The passage of the NEPA happened so fast, and the EPA (environmental protection agency) that formed as a result of the bill was organized so quickly, that the early years of the program saw disorganized, scattered offices and frustration amongst workers.

The first ever Earth Day is held in Washington on April, 22nd, 1970

The National Ad Council's Keep American Beautiful Campaign of 1971- featuring Chief Iron Eyes Cody.

March 1971 = The General Services Administration was able to move all of EPA's Washington workers into an office complex big enough to house them.

EPA's first adminstrator Attorney General, William D. Ruckelshaus, sums up EPA's formative years:

"We thought we had technologies that could control pollutants, keeping them below threshold levels at a reasonable cost, and that the only things missing in the equation were national standards and a strong enforcement effort. All of the nation's early environmental laws reflected these assumptions, and every one of these assumptions is wrong...The errors in our assumptions were not readily apparent in EPA's early days because the agency was tackling pollution in its most blatant form. The worst problems and the most direct ways to deal with them were apparent to everyone."

December 31st, 1972 = DDT Ban Takes Effect

From EPA.gov = What does the EPA do?

EPA works to develop and enforce regulations that implement environmental laws enacted by Congress. EPA is responsible for researching and setting national standards for a variety of environmental programs, and delegates to states and tribes the responsibility for issuing permits and for monitoring and enforcing compliance. Where national standards are not met, EPA can issue sanctions and take other steps to assist the states and tribes in reaching the desired levels of environmental quality.

List of Related Acts:

Air

* 1970 - Clean Air Act Extension PL 91-604
* 1976 - Toxic Substances Control Act PL 94-469
* 1977 - Clean Air Act Amendments PL 95-95
* 1990 - Clean Air Act Amendments PL 101-549

Water

* 1970 - Water Quality Improvement Act PL 91-224
* 1972 - Water Pollution Control Act PL 92-500
* 1974 - Safe Drinking Water Act PL 93-523
* 1976 - Toxic Substances Control Act PL 94-469
* 1977 - Clean Water Act PL 95-217
* 1987 - Water Quality Act PL 100-4

Land

* 1970 - Wilderness Act PL 91-504
* 1977 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act PL 95-87
* 1978 - Wilderness Act PL 98-625
* 1980 - Alaska Land Protection Act PL 96-487
* 1994 - California Desert Protection Act PL 103-433
* 1996 - Food Quality Protection Act

Endangered species

* 1972 - Marine Mammal Protection Act PL 92-522
* 1973 - Endangered Species Act PL 93-205

Hazardous waste

* 1970 - Resource Recovery Act PL 91-512
* 1976 - Resource Conservation and Recovery Act PL 94-580
* 1980 - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("Superfund") PL 96-510
* 1982 - Nuclear Waste Repository Act PL 97-425
* 1984 - Hazardous and Solid Wastes Amendments Act PL 98-616
* 1986 - Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act PL 99-499
* 2002 - Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act ("Brownfields Law") PL 107-118

6. Policy Evaluation

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5. Policy Implementation

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The NEPA Process
Council on Environmental Quality
Environmental Protection Agency

4. Policy Adoption

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• Summer of 1968 Subcommittee on Science Research and Development published report “Managing the Environment

• Summer of 1968-report titled “A National Policy for the Environment” was published by Senator Jackson, who is said to be the father of the NEPA.

• 1968/1969 Congress was prompted to hold joint and separate House and Senate hearings to consider a national policy for the environment.

• Senator Henry Jackson introduces Senate bill S.1075 in Feb 1969 to his committee which was the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.

• Introduced in the House by Congressman John Dingell

3. Policy Formulation

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2. Agenda Setting

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Rachel Carson's monumental book, Silent Spring is published in 1962. Immediately popular and continuously referenced, the text is lauded as starting the environmental movement.

"As crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life" - Rachel Carson

At 11:56 am on June 22, 1969, an oil slick caught fire on the Cuyahoga River just southeast of downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), is signed into law on the first day of 1970 by President Nixon.

I. Problem Identification

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The basic problem that NEPA desires to correct is the lack of harmony between human beings and the physical environment.

The specific problem that NEPA was concerned with at the outset of the policy formulation was the impact of the Interstate Highway Act of 1956.

The planned new roads mandated the demolition of many inner city neighborhoods and green belts.

The citizens engaged in "freeway revolts" in opposition to the implementation of the policy.

The widespread opposition was the impetus for the policy to become the National Environmental Protection Act.

Welcome!

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This blog was started by the Fall 2007, Georgia State University, Critical Policy Issues Group: NEPA, to spread awareness and information about the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

In the spirit of those who worked towards a more environmentally conscious world in our recent past- we too seek to collect and share the knowledge essential for change.