Biodiversity conservation and NEPA
- Dynamac Corp., Rockville, MD (United States)
The Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have recently developed new guidelines to facilitate the consideration of biodiversity in the preparation and review of environmental impact assessments. The purpose of these efforts is to facilitate the incorporation of biodiversity considerations into the ecological analyses of all federal agencies. Because federal decisions requiring environmental impact assessments under NEPA affect hundreds of millions of federal and non-federal lands and waters, improved consideration of the impacts of federal activities is essential to stemming the loss of biological diversity in the United States. The designation of ecosystems or habitats'' of concern is a useful first step identifying risks to biodiversity. After reviewing the status and trends of habitats within eight major regions of the US, the EPA guidelines identify habitats contributing to regional and global biodiversity such as remnant prairies, riparian habitats, and old-growth forests. This document also discusses how the impacts on habitats vary with the different activities of land conversion, timber harvesting, grazing, mining, and water management.
- OSTI ID:
- 6164145
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930523-; CODEN: EPROD9
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Professional; (United States), Vol. Supplement; Conference: 18. National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) annual conference on current and future priorities for environmental management, Raleigh, NC (United States), 24-26 May 1993; ISSN 0191-5398
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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