“One should not assume that NEPA’s emphasis upon procedural consideration of environmental consequences somehow diminishes its stature. To the contrary, NEPA is the key environmental statute to be reckoned with in lawsuits challenging agency action on NEPA grounds. As a result of the popularity of NEPA in court, federal agencies have become extremely sensitive to NEPA’s procedural commands. They have not only sought to articulate the environmental impacts of their decisions before-the-fact, they have also either abandoned projects or mitigated their adverse environmental consequences after performing NEPA studies.” Jan G. Laitos, Natural Resources Law § 4.01, at 119 (2002).
national environmental policy act
National Environmental Policy Act. A 1969 federal statute establishing U.S. environmental policy. • The statute requires federal agencies to submit an environmental-impact statement with every proposal for a program or law that would affect the environment. 42 USCA §§ 4321–4347 — Abbr. NEPA. See ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT STATEMENT. [Cases: Environmental Law 571–615.]
