The National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Highway Program: Merging Administrative Traffic

On January 1, 1970, the President declared:It is particularly fitting that my first official act in this new decade is to approve the National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA].The past year has seen the creation of a President's Cabinet Committee on Environmental Quality, and we have devoted many hours to the pressing problems of pollution control, airport location, wilderness preservation, highway construction and population trends.By my participation in these efforts I have become further convinced that the 1970'.sabsolutely must be the years when America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its air, its waters and our living environment.It is literally now or never.1The Act 2 is very much an embodiment of new concerns of the late 1960's.A new mode of thinking about environmental problems is suggested by phrases such as "understanding ecological systems," "recycling of depletable resources," and "balanced population and resource use."The recent past had encompassed important statutory achievements in the field of air and water pollution control, 3 but the thrust of previous environmental legislation was effect-oriented.The focus of the laws was upon minimum quality of * The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Council on Environmental Quality.1. Statement by the President, Press Release, Office of the White House, San Clemente, California (Jan. 1, 1970).2. 42