- Ask an Expert
- (609) 649-9395
NEPA and Environmental Documentation
Home > Environmental Resources > NEPA and Environmental Documentation
Evaluate Impacts
Ensure Compliance
Environmental Stewardship
These are the primary documents required for compliance with environmental regulations, providing a comprehensive overview of potential impacts and mitigation strategies.
The NEPA process requires examination and consideration of impacts of the proposed action on sensitive resources when we are considering a transportation facility. These resources include, but are not limited to, floodplains, wetlands, endangered species, historic and archaeological sites, park lands, air quality, and wildlife habitat. Technical studies are completed for sensitive resources and used to complete the NEPA document.
The NEPA process requires close coordination with other Federal and State agencies to ensure compliance with agencies that have regulatory responsibilities for resources under their jurisdiction.
For example, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must be consulted when projects have the potential to impact endangered species or their habitats. The State Historic Preservation Officer is consulted on projects involving historic properties.
Three basic “classes of action” are allowed and determine how compliance with NEPA is carried out and documented:
• Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
• Environmental Assessment (EA)
• Categorical Exclusions (CE)
This involves implementing measures to offset any adverse environmental impacts. This include the development and execution of agreement documents and restoration of natural resources.
- Self-Certification: Declaration of compliance.
- Categorical Exclusions: For projects with minimal environmental impact.
- Environmental Assessments (EA): Detailed evaluations leading to findings like a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).
- Environmental Impact Statements (EIS): Comprehensive reports for projects with significant impacts, culminating in a Record of Decision (ROD).
- Environmental Re-evaluation (ER): Environmental documents are re-evaluated to identify any new work or changes in regulations and to determine whether the original environmental document or decision remains valid or if a supplemental or new analysis is required.
A category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant impact on the environment and therefore do not require development of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
Prepared for actions in which the environmental impact is not clear. If the environmental analysis and inter-agency review determine that a project does not have significant impacts on the environment, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is issued. A FONSI is prepared to conclude the process and documentation of the decision if it is determined that there will be no significant impacts. However if it is anticipated that there will be significant impacts to the environment, an EIS is developed.
Prepared for projects where it is known that the action will have a significant effect on the environment. The final step is to issue a Record of Decision (ROD) which provides information on the decision making process and agreed upon measures to avoid, minimize and compensate for environmental impacts.
An assessment of any changes which may have occurred in either the project’s design or the affected environment and a determination of what effects these changes might have on the validity of the environmental document.
Re-evaluations are done for right-of-way, utilities, and design changes.