NEPA, monitoring, and adaptive management

Technical Report · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:126002

Carpenter, R A

Getting concerns about the environment on the decision making table before Federal actions are taken is the recognized business of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), but keeping them there is just as important. Human interventions into natural systems seldom proceed as originally planned. Scientific uncertainties prevent environmental impacts from being reliably or precisely predicted. Thus, the style of management must provide for monitoring to guide mid-course corrections adapting to inevitable surprises. the one time, pre-approval EA/EIS procedure remains essential but is not sufficient to assure the goal of NEPA {open_quotes}to...maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony...{close_quotes} (NEPA, 1969). This paper explores the extent to which NEPA encourages continuous assessment for timely feedback to managers, and the practical difficulties involved in doing so.

• Research Organization: National Association of Environmental Professionals, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 126002
• Report Number(s): CONF-9506115--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
EVALUATION
IMPLEMENTATION
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
US NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT