What is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and what did it establish?

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Accepted Answer

A foundational U.S. environmental law that established a national policy for the environment and required federal agencies to assess the environmental impact of their proposed actions. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), signed into law on January 1, 1970, is one of the most foundational environmental laws in the United States. It declared a national policy to encourage harmony between humans and the environment, established the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Executive Office of the President, and - most significantly - required all federal agencies to prepare detailed Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. NEPA is often called the "Magna Carta" of environmental law.

The law that banned DDT was not NEPA; DDT was banned by EPA order in 1972 under the authority of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). A program to fund solar energy research describes various energy research initiatives but not NEPA. An international treaty to protect the ozone layer describes the Montreal Protocol (1987), which is an international agreement, not a U.S. domestic law.

NEPA and the framework of U.S. environmental law are essential knowledge for the DSST Environment and Humanity exam. Students should understand NEPA's significance as the foundational environmental law, the EIA process it established, the creation of the EPA (which was actually established by executive order shortly after NEPA's passage in 1970), and how NEPA has served as a model for environmental legislation in countries around the world.

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