National Environmental Policy Act

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• published: 06 Feb 2012
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Congress enacted NEPA in December, 1969, and President Nixon signed it into law on January 1, 1970. NEPA was the first major environmental law in the United States and is often called the "Magna Carta" of environmental laws. Importantly, NEPA established this country's national environmental policies. In NEPA, Congress recognized that the Federal Government's actions may cause significant environmental effects. The range of actions that cause significant environmental effects is broad and includes issuing regulations, providing permits for private actions, funding private actions, making federal land management decisions, constructing publicly-owned facilities, and many other types of actions. Agencies are required to determine if their proposed actions have significant environmental effects and to consider the environmental and related social and economic effects of their proposed actions. Often private individuals or companies will become involved in the NEPA process when they need a permit issued by a Federal agency. When a company applies for a permit (for example, for crossing federal lands) the agency that is being asked to issue the permit must evaluate the environmental effects of the permit decision under NEPA. The purpose of NEPA and the mission of the BLM are fully compatible. The BLM's mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. This closely mirrors BLM's multiple use and sustained yield mandates under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. NEPA declares that the Federal government's continuing policy is to create and maintain conditions under which people and nature can exist in productive harmony and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans. The BLM in Oregon and Washington has a NEPA document library that contains documents relevant to the BLM planning projects throughout Oregon and Washington. Documents can be searched by fiscal year, district, program area, and document type via the NEPA Document Search form. All of the BLM's planning documents can also be accessed by RRS feed: http://www.blm.gov/or/rss/nepa-or.xml For additional information about NEPA visit the BLM on the web at: http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/index.php