Erosion control for the Fundamental values in NEPA

A commitment to exploring alternatives to major Federal actions, pursuing and facilitating public involvement, and identifying measures to mitigate the adverse effects of actions selected for implementation are important values of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. While other major environmental legislation may commit an agency to different aspects of environmental review and protection, no other Federal statute combines the unique values that NEPA does. Since its enactment over 26 years ago, NEPA has faced numerous challenges to its fundamental intent and values. Recently, processes deemed to be, or assumed to be, functionally equivalent have attempted to subsume important NEPA values while allowing major Federal actions to proceed without NEPA`s environmental review. This paper examines the concept and origin of the term NEPA values, and the effects of judicial review and actions such as DOE`s NEPA/CERCLA integration agreement, have had on maintaining fundamental NEPA values in the Federal decision making process. In addition, based on concerns that are building momentum in the US Congress, a brief discussion will be included exploring what may occur in the future to prevent further erosion of fundamental NEPA values.