*This course is a private offering for members and affilliates of the US Bureau of Land Management. You Must have an invitation from the BLM to enroll.

Basic NEPA: The Law, Logic, and Language of the National Environmental Policy Act (Two Days)

Attendees will learn the basic and fundamental principles of NEPA practice in this 2-day course all the way from what NEPA is and where it came from, through how it works and when it applies, all the way through scoping NEPA documents and techniques to review the adequacy of NEPA documents.  Completion of this course is excellent preparation for getting the most out of our Advanced NEPA** course. 

All NEPA processes are explained: Categorical Exclusion, Environmental Assessment/Finding of No Significant Impact (EA/FONSI), and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  Included is a substantial handout with graphic models, updated case lists that support the models, and sample documents.  All materials are based on statutes, regulations, and NEPA case law.  Attendees may wish to keep the course material to serve as a reference in the workplace.  

Major themes include: how to make the findings required by law; how to make the finding of no significant impact in particular; the giving of reasons; timing the NEPA process to the decision making process; all good legal reasons not to prepare an EIS; scoping a reasonable range of alternatives; and an approach to the cumulative impacts analysis that complies literally with the regulatory definition of cumulative impacts.  Discussions and questions are encouraged. 

DID YOU KNOW

The NEPA-implementing regulations have not been significantly amended since they were first published in 1978.  But NEPA case law is constantly evolving as new issues are presented to the courts and new judicial opinions are published.  This course is updated according to the latest judicial opinions.

DID YOU KNOW

The categorical exclusion is an exclusion from an EIS but it is not an exclusion from NEPA. Instead, it is one of three processes for compliance with NEPA, along with the EA/FONSI and the EIS. This course covers the NEPA process including scoping, supplementation, and tiering.

DID YOU KNOW

Determinations of compliance with other environmental statutes are integral to the preparation of an EA or an EIS.  Thus the Endangered Species Act and the National Historical Preservation Act, for example, are woven into the course material along with other statutes and Executive Orders. 

Advanced NEPA-An intensive one-day seminar with solutions to the most difficult NEPA problems (One Day)

You’ve been to training on the basics, the fundamentals, the essentials, the step-by-step.  You’ve been to refreshers and updates.  It’s time to take the National Environmental Policy Act to the next level – Advanced NEPA. 

NEPA is often criticized for costing too much, taking too long, and accomplishing too little.  If you have any role in the NEPA process, you have a stake in the answers discussed in this seminar. 

You are encouraged to bring your own questions for discussion and resolution.  This is a seminar format with significant time reserved for discussion rather than lecture.  Handout materials are substantial and based on statutes, regulations, and case law rather than on opinion or past practice. 

Expect a fast-paced day.  During this seminar the questions that do not arise in the basic courses will be asked and answered – questions related to the categorical exclusion, the environmental assessment, the finding of no significant impact, and the environmental impact statement.