Environmental Studies

Module 6. Social issues and the environment

Lesson 27
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT

27.1 Introduction

The essential purpose of National Environment Protection Act (NEPA) is to ensure that environmental factors are weighted equally when compared to other factors in the decision making process undertaken by the Government. The act establishes the national environmental policy, including a multidisciplinary approach to considering environmental effects in democratic government agency decision making. The effectiveness of NEPA originates in its requirement of state agencies to prepare an environmental statement to accompany reports and recommendations for funding from Government. This document is called an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). NEPA is an action-forcing piece of legislation, meaning that the act itself does not carry any criminal or civil sanctions. All enforcement of NEPA was to be obtained through the process of the court system. In practice, a project is required to meet NEPA guidelines when a Government agency provides any portion of the financing for the project. Sometimes, however, review of a project by a state employee can be viewed as a federal action and would then, therefore, require NEPA-compliant analysis be performed.

NEPA covers a vast array of federal agency actions, but not all actions are necessarily covered under NEPA. The act does not apply to purely private or purely public state action. This means that there is a complete absence of government influence or funding concerning that specific action. Exemptions and exclusions are also present within NEPA's guidelines. Exemptions from NEPA include specific federal projects detailed in legislation, EPA exemptions and functional equivalent exemptions. Functional Equivalent exemptions apply where compliance with other environmental laws requires environmental analysis similar to NEPA. These other environmental laws can include but are not limited to the Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Federal Insecticide.

27.2 Conclusion

The use of the term Environmental Science may imply a single subject, but the essence of environmental science is its multi-disciplinary nature. Environmental Science is the systematic study of our environment and our proper place in it. However, to the present and to all the generations still to come, how we affect our environment is important. Environmental problems are in part the result of the large number of human beings on the planet. Therefore, individual actions, summed over large number of people, can influence the environment greatly. So we must do more than simply identify and discuss environmental problems and solutions. We must think critically about them. It has to be recognized that the basis of human power and superiority lies in his knowledge of the environment. Individuals can involve themselves in many ways in the process of improving the environment. Similar to any social and political movement, environmentalism (a range of moral codes directed at achieving better environmental management) too encompasses a wide range of approaches. At the one end, there is the conservative style of the nature conservancy whose major function has been to help purchase lands that are important for conservation and to ensure that these lands are maintained as nature preserves; while at the other opposite extreme end is the radical activism of organizations such as Greenpeace whose activities have included maneuvering small boats between whaling ships and whales in an attempt to prevent and draw attention to the practice of whaling. We should not forget that we have a special environmental responsibility to ourselves and to other follow living beings. We have to conserve the environment not merely for the preservation of the rich biological diversity, natural resources or aesthetic value, but for sheer survival.