Influence of selected Federal statutes on energy development

This report outlines and discusses the major Federal statutes which can act as constraints and incentives to the various types of energy resource developments and their resulting impacts. While state and local legislation and other political and institutional factors may create more immediate constraints and incentives regarding the location of energy developments, Federal legislation can supersede state and local powers and often sets a precedent for similar state legislation. This study examines institutional barriers and incentives to energy development and investigate potential management strategies for energy impacts, deals with the first layer of constraints--Federal legislation. For this discussion, constraints and incentives are the laws and resulting policies and guidelines that limit and/or encourage certain development policies and actions. These laws set parameters along several dimensions within which all development actions must occur. The dimensions, which are the sectors of the Regional Assessment Program are (1) air quality, (2) water quality, (3) bioproductivity, (4) land use, (5) economics/energy, and (6) community development (social/demographic/psychological issues). This report has been organized along the six dimensions. The characteristics of the Pacific Northwest region and of the energy development/production process are described. A general overview of the Federal legislative constraints and incentives, including some discussion of their content and the implications of each piece of legislation for energy resource development is provided. (Appendices A through F contain brief abstracts of each piece of legislation.) (From overview)