National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
- NEPA: the regulation and relationship with other regulations
- Defining the goals of NEPA and keeping them in mind when writing NEPA documents
(e.g., making documents understandable to the "layperson," using
logic in discussion)
- Objectiveness versus subjectiveness: how to best use judgment when the science
isn't available
- Thresholds: which ones should you use?
- Writing efficient and realistic mitigation measures
- Mitigation monitoring requirements
- Alternatives selection: what is a "reasonable range of alternatives?",
how much detail should the impact assessment go into?, etc.
- Cumulative impact assessment (compiling a list of "reasonably foreseeable"
projects, assessing cumulative impacts when there's not much information,
mitigation measures for cumulative impacts, etc.)
- What issue areas should be assessed? Requirements and recommendations
- Being a principal author and managing several co-authors
- Communicating with scientists and engineers
- Communicating with clients when problems arise
- The use of language in impact assessment (e.g., when to use shall, would,
potentially, etc. and what these words mean legally)
- Issue areas (including aesthetics/visual resources, biological resources,
geological resources, land use, hazards/hazardous materials, housing, socioeconomics,
traffic/transportation/parking, air quality, hydrology/water quality/water
quantity, noise, cultural resources, agricultural resources, etc.)
Public Participation
- When is it required
- How to make it effective
- Relaying technical information to the general public
- Early scoping: its benefits and drawbacks
- Using public comments to make better documents
- Responding to public and agency comments (written and verbal)
- How best to handle public controversy
Future Trends
- The future of NEPA: is there a better way to do things?
- Statistics: NEPA after 30 years
- Does our environment benefit from impact assessment?
- Document trends: Environmental Impact Statements, Environmental Assessments,
mitigation measures, etc.
Urban/Local Planning
Urban Runoff/Flood Control
- Using wetlands/riparian corridors/open space for flood control
- Best management practices for urban runoff
- Creek restoration for flood control
- Minimizing impervious surface in design
Traffic/Transportation
- Traffic counts
- Calculating average daily trips, peak hour traffic, etc.
- How to handle traffic impacts
- Planning detours
- Encouraging alternative transportation for traffic reduction (e.g., public
transit, ³park and ride² programs, car pooling, bicycling)
- Maintaining/planning roads with minimal impacts
Noise Impact Assessment/Modeling
- Creating compatible communities
- Restricting noise near residences, schools, hospitals, etc.
- The science of noise (e.g., how noise travels, the physics of noise, etc.)
- Creating effective mitigation measures
- Sound walls: types and applications
Energy Planning and Conservation (alternative energy/increasing efficiency)
- Using conservation for saving money
- Passive solar: how to incorporate into urban areas
- Creating incentives for using alternative energy
- Why alternative energy? (Cleaner air, more sustainable, etc.)
Alternative Building/Architecture (green building)
- Alternative building materials: codes and regulations
- Incorporating alternative building into urban settings: creating a market,
educating people, creating codes and regulations, etc.
- Why green building? (The benefits of green building)
Integrated Pollution Prevention
- Pollution prevention regulations
- Public education
- Reducing landfill waste in urban settings
- Requirements/recommendations for construction P2 (e.g., the use of recycled
materials in construction, mandates for recycling construction materials,
reducing waste on the construction site)
- Requirements/recommendations for hazardous waste control (including domestic
and industrial waste) Resource Management Planning
Watershed/Bioregional Planning (state, county, and local)
- The basics of watershed planning
- Washington State: Watershed Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs)
Habitat Conservation Planning (ESA)/Natural Community Conservation
Planning (varying with state)
- Trends in HCPs
- Legislative backing of HCPs
- Preparing an HCP
Permitting
- Wetland permitting 101 (including ACOE Section 404, local permits, etc.)
- ESA permitting (incidental take, etc.)
- Managing the permitting for various projects
- Various state permitting (varies with locality)
