NEPA is the National Environmental Policy Act, passed in 1969, that requires federal agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision making processes by considering the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions. To meet this requirement, federal agencies perform an evaluation of those environmental impacts. The Forest Service's recent decision to accept the Augusta/Rosemont Copper mining plan of operations at Rosemont Ranch is a federal action, therefore, the NEPA process has begun.
There are three levels of analysis depending on whether the action could significantly affect the environment. These three levels include: preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) if it is a "major Federal action that has a significant effect on the quality of the human environment"; an Environmental Assessment (EA) to determine if the project would significantly affect the environment; or a Categorical Exclusion for a project that has been determined as having no significant environmental impact.
An open pit mine is usually considered to be a major Federal action that would have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. Therefore, an EIS will be prepared. For an EIS, the process consists of three main steps:
- Scoping: Public meetings to gather comments from the public regarding their main concerns and issues about the project. This step is important, because if you do not participate and bring up a concern at this step, you cannot later challenge the Final EIS for not addressing that concern. At this stage, the agency must consult and coordinate with other agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- Draft EIS: The agency releases the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that has addressed all the issues brought up during scoping, and includes several alternatives to the proposed project, including a "no action" alternative. You can suggest alternatives in your comments. The public can comment on this Draft.
- Final EIS and Record of Decision: The agency releases the Final Environmental Impact Statement which identifies the selected alternative. The public can comment on this Final EIS, and can appeal the Record of Decision, the official document stating the agency's decision.
See also:
Citizen's Guide to NEPA
U.S. EPA Consideration Of Cumulative Impacts In EPA Review of NEPA Documents (Cumulative impacts must be considered in the NEPA process!)
For more detailed information, go to http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/Nepa/nepanet.htm or http://www.nepa.gov/nepa/regs/nepa/nepaeqia.htm
NEPAnet
The National Forest info on NEPA: http://www.fs.fed.us/sopa/components/sopa-dscr.shtml#planning
http://www.fs.fed.us/emc/nepa/
