United States

Department of

Agriculture

Forest Service

Pacific Northwest

Research Station

General Technical

Report

PNW-GTR-799

October 2009

Exploring National

Environmental Policy Act

Processes Across Federal

Land Management Agencies

Marc J. Stern and Michael J. Mortimer
The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the

principle of multiple use management of the Nation’s forest resources for sustained yields of wood, water, forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry

research, cooperation with the States and private forest owners, and management of the national forests and national grasslands, it strives—as directed by

Congress—to provide increasingly greater service to a growing Nation.

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and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion,

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and TDD).

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1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-

3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and

employer.

Authors

Marc J. Stern is assistant professor, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation (0324), College of Natural Resources, 304 Cheatham Hall,

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061. Michael

J. Mortimer is Director, Natural Resources Program, National Capital Region,

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Northern Virginia Center, Room

411, 7054 Haycock Road, Falls Church, VA 22043.

This work was funded by joint venture agreement 06-JV-11261976-303.
Abstract

Stern, Marc J.; Mortimer, Michael J. 2009. Exploring National Environmental

Policy Act processes across federal land management agencies. Gen. Tech. Rep.

PNW-GTR-799. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Pacific Northwest Research Station. 106 p.

Broad discretion is granted at all levels throughout federal land management

agencies regarding compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA). We explored the diversity of procedures employed in NEPA processes

across four agencies, the USDA Forest Service, the USDI National Park Service

and Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through

document review and interviews with chief NEPA compliance officers, interdisciplinary team leaders, team members, and decisionmakers within the agencies. A lack

of consistency is highlighted not only between, but also within, agencies with regard

to how NEPA is perceived and implemented. This report focuses on how successful

NEPA processes are defined within each agency and what strategies are perceived to

be the most or least beneficial to positive NEPA outcomes. It also identifies unresolved questions about NEPA processes and presents a research strategy for addressing them.

Keywords: National Environmental Policy Act, planning, interdisciplinary

teams, Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers
Summary

This exploratory study set out to investigate the following key questions as they

pertain to the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in

the USDA Forest Service, the USDI Bureau of Land Management and National

Park Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:

• How do different land management agencies define success of their NEPA

processes?

• What lessons for enhancing agency performance in NEPA processes might be

applicable between and across these agencies?

• What do agency personnel consider to be the primary strengths and weaknesses

of their processes?

The study was not designed to conclusively answer the questions per se, but was

instead designed to build an understanding as to how agency personnel perceive the

requirements of NEPA, how they perceive their agency’s guidance regarding NEPA,

and what practices, if any, appear to be relatively highly valued in different agencies. We took a qualitative approach, employing key informant interviews and case

studies, to address the questions above. Rather than depicting clear trends that

represent entire agencies, the study reveals key areas of inquiry for future research

and agency consideration.

Even within our small sample size (n = 25) of agency personnel involved with

NEPA, little consensus existed regarding best practices for navigating NEPA

processes. Some of the most positively viewed practices uncovered in interviews

with agency personnel on 10 NEPA processes included temporarily relieving

interdisciplinary (ID) team members of other tasks to focus on a particular NEPA

process, using a dedicated staff writer to orchestrate the completion of NEPA

documents, more direct incorporation of U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff onto interdisciplinary teams, and early and informal public involvement.

Far less consistency in opinions emerged regarding other practices associated

with NEPA processes, drawing attention to the unique nature of each NEPA process

brought about by myriad factors, such as the subject matter of the project; its

political, social, and ecological contexts; and the personnel involved. For example,

variable degrees of success were noted with regard to the centralization and

outsourcing of certain functions. Drawing upon central offices for specific subject

matter expertise and to staff ID teams was generally viewed in a positive light.

Meanwhile, relying on centralized teams to code public comments more commonly
caused problems for ID teams. Contractors were generally seen to be most useful

when employed to complete discrete analytical tasks. Opinions about contractors in

other roles varied tremendously. Moreover, many participants in the study struggled

with defining the role of NEPA in decisionmaking processes. For some, NEPA and

the decisionmaking process were one and the same. At the other extreme, some felt

NEPA processes to be entirely separate from decisionmaking. Interviewees’ opinions regarding the proper ways to carry out specific steps in NEPA processes and

their contributions to making better decisions also differed tremendously.

The breadth of conflicting ideas about NEPA and NEPA processes revealed

within the extremely small sample of agency personnel within this study suggests

that an even wider range of interpretations of the act and its associated processes

exists. This report is presented in executive summary style throughout to facilitate

easy comprehension of its key themes. The report explicitly addresses 10 specific

aspects of NEPA processes that emerged as key challenges for agency personnel

throughout our study:

• Defining the purpose of NEPA

• Defining success in NEPA processes

• Determining the appropriate form of documentation (environmental assessment

[EA] vs. environmental impact statement [EIS])

• The division of labor within ID teams

• Interagency coordination

• Alternatives development

• Analyses

• Public involvement

• Writing the NEPA document (all EISs in our cases)

• Decisionmaking

The report highlights unanswered questions about each of these aspects of the

NEPA process. As an exploratory and qualitative effort, we make no claims regarding the representativeness of our findings. Rather, this effort has been useful in

exposing the incredibly high variability in beliefs about NEPA and its associated

processes within each agency. In doing so, the research highlights pathways of

inquiry that appear highly relevant in charting a course for future implementation of

the act’s requirements.

Several themes run throughout our results, including uncertainty and inconsistent perceptions regarding the purpose of NEPA and the audience(s) for which the

NEPA analysis documents are drafted; the permeation of the NEPA process by
litigation and uncertainties associated with successive judicial opinions; and differing viewpoints about procedural requirements as a means to an end or as an end

themselves.

Our findings suggest two sets of unresolved questions regarding NEPA implementation; the first of a more strategic nature, and the second of a more applied

nature. The first involves developing a shared vision of what successful NEPA

processes should accomplish and more clearly articulating the role that NEPA

should or should not play in agency decisionmaking. This first set of questions is

normative and largely political. The second set of unanswered questions uncovered

in this effort offers themes for future research that could help to improve NEPA

implementation in the future. These questions include:

• What are the effects of narrowing the scope of projects to simplify NEPA

processes?

• Is the NEPA process at odds with adaptive management?

• How do outcomes differ for different levels of analysis (EA vs. EIS) on similar

projects?

• How do different sequences of events, particularly alternatives development and

public involvement, relate to different NEPA outcomes?

• How do both internal and external misconceptions of NEPA influence NEPA

processes and their outcomes?

• What techniques for involving the public lead to better NEPA outcomes? Can

any contribute to diminishing litigation?

• Does the appeals process help or hinder Forest Service decisionmaking?

• How can the Forest Service limit litigation brought against it following NEPA

processes?

The report concludes by outlining a scientifically rigorous research design that

could address many of these questions systematically.
Contents

1 Introduction

2 Background

4 Discretion, Decisionmaking, and the “Critical Task”

8 Methods

8 Unique Treatment of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

9 Agency Document Review

10 Literature Review

10 Washington, D.C., Interviews

10 Project Case Studies

12 Caveats

13 Results

13 The Purpose of NEPA

18 Definitions of Success

23 Determining the Appropriate NEPA Pathway

26 Division of Labor

32 Interagency Coordination

36 Alternatives Development

42 Analyses

50 Public Involvement

63 Writing the EIS

69 Decisionmaking

77 Discussion

77 Practices Viewed as Positive

79 Practices About Which Opinions Diverged

81 Common Inefficiencies in NEPA Processes

82 Unresolved Issues

86 Conclusion: Scientific Needs in Understanding NEPA Implementation

88 References

95 Appendix: Interview Scripts
This Page Left Blank Intentionally
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Introduction

Agencies that manage land or water differ in the ways they make decisions and

navigate the processes mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

of 1969. This study set out to explore the NEPA processes of four federal land

management agencies: the USDA Forest Service, the USDI National Park Service

(NPS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers (USACE). We set out to addresses the following key questions:

• How do different agencies define success within their NEPA processes?

• What lessons for enhancing agency performance in NEPA processes might be

applicable between and across agencies?

• What do agency personnel consider to be the primary strengths and weaknesses

of their processes?

Our methods included extensive review of agency documents, unpublished

reports, and peer-reviewed articles, but the results presented herein were generated

primarily through interviews with agency personnel involved in NEPA processes.

These interviews provided us a window into not only the mechanics of agency

NEPA processes, but also varying perceptions regarding these processes held by

agency decisionmakers, interdisciplinary (ID) team members, and NEPA coordinators. Although we set out with a specific set of categories of data to explore, we

employed a primarily inductive method, allowing key themes to emerge from the

documents and interviews themselves. This exploratory approach has allowed us to

uncover what we believe to be many of the most salient issues on the minds of

those most deeply involved in NEPA implementation in each agency.

We consider this report a preliminary effort that has generated as many questions as it has answered. The study has uncovered both specific strategies that may

be worth importing on trial bases across agencies and deeper uncertainties whose

further investigation could reveal the specific impacts of different practices upon

the outcomes of NEPA processes. As such, the value of the study lies not only in

identifying valued practices of different agencies, but perhaps more so in identifying the right questions to be asking to truly move NEPA implementation into the

21st century.

This report is presented in four sections: introduction, methods, results, and

discussion. The introduction describes the aims and scope of the project. The

methods section provides detail on how we collected the data. The results section is

presented in sections corresponding to key topics related to the NEPA processes of

the agencies. Under each heading, data from all agencies are shared to highlight
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

practices that have been particularly valued by respondents as well as those that

represent key stumbling blocks. Attention is also drawn to issues that this preliminary effort was unable to resolve in its limited scope. The discussion section

summarizes the themes presented in the results section and puts forth recommendations for further investigations that could move toward resolving the unknown

effects of different factors upon NEPA outcomes.

Background

We carried out a review of NEPA-related literature in books, peer-reviewed articles, and grey literature sources (e.g., unpublished monographs, task force reports, and agency documents). We aimed to uncover major themes of interest and

any apparent gaps within the vast library of NEPA literature regarding federal land

management agencies. Our review uncovered myriad topics ranging from the

original intent of the act to its implementation and consequences. In this section,

we highlight a selection of these themes relevant to this study.

Although numerous pieces discussed NEPA’s impact on federal agencies in

general (e.g., Culhane 1990, Wichelman 1976), our review did not uncover any

explicit comparisons of NEPA implementation across agencies. Some of the most

common themes that cut across three and a half decades of literature about NEPA

included the purpose of NEPA (e.g., Adams et al. 1976, Cortner 1976, DeBois

1982, Dreyfus and Ingram 1976, Friesema and Culhane 1976, Lindstrom and

Smith 2001, Swanson 1994, Twelker 1990); the challenges of multidisciplinary

science (e.g., Caldwell 1983, Haug et al. 1984); the influence of NEPA on agency

decisionmaking (e.g., Ackerman 1990, Boling 2005, Cortner 1976, Culhane 1990,

Friesema and Culhane 1976, Kaiser 2006, Swanson 1994, Twelker 1990); the

effectiveness of NEPA in influencing more environmentally sound decisionmaking

(e.g., Fairfax 1978, Kaiser 2006); analytical techniques, especially more recent

papers focusing on cumulative effects (e.g., Bear 2003, Bronstein et al. 2005,

DiMento and Ingram 2005, McCold and Saulsbury 1996); the degree of compliance with NEPA by federal agencies (e.g., Cortner 1976, Wichelman 1976);

motivations for different levels of compliance with NEPA and the influences of

organizational culture on NEPA compliance (e.g., Cortner 1976, Sax 1973); court

interpretations of NEPA and their influence (e.g., Black 2004, Dreyfus and Ingram

1976, LaFlamme 1999, Miller 1991); litigation frequencies and causes (e.g., Keele

et al. 2006, Malmsheimer et al. 2004); the relationships between NEPA and other

legislation (e.g., Eccleston 1999, Keiter 2006); failures to produce useful documents (e.g., Carter 1976, Friesema and Culhane 1976, Dreyfus and Ingram 1976,
3

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Sullivan et al. 1996); the role of alternatives development in decisionmaking (e.g.,

Bear 2003, Simon 2005); public involvement in NEPA processes (e.g., Denq 1990,

Force and Forester 2002, Innes and Booher 2004, Leach 2006, Martin et al. 1996,

McBeth and Shanahan 2004, National Environmental Conflict Resolution Advisory

Committee 2005, Sissell 2005, Poisner 1996, Tilleman 1995); socioeconomic impacts and their analyses (e.g., Bear 2003, Bronstein et al. 2005, Cornelison 1976,

Friesema and Culhane 1976, Preister and Kent 2000, Smith 1992); NEPA and

ecosystem management (e.g., Keiter 1990, Phillips and Randolph 2000); monitoring impacts following NEPA processes (e.g., Bear 2003, Bronstein et al. 2005,

DiMento and Ingram 2005, Karkkainen 2002); and streamlining the NEPA process

to improve agency efficiency (e.g., Johnston et al. 2004, Luther 2006, Reich et al.

2002, U.S. House of Representatives Task Force on Improving the National Environmental Policy Act 2006), among others.

To begin to explore NEPA implementation across different federal land management agencies, we decided to include a large number of these themes in our

interviews. We felt that an effective way to more fully understand the elements of

NEPA processes considered most influential or important by NEPA implementers

would be to discuss the specific sequences of individual NEPA processes with

interdisciplinary team leaders. Holistic examinations of the specific steps used to

complete NEPA processes are rare in the literature. We could find only one example in the literature (beyond Council on Environmental Quality [CEQ] and

agency guidance documents) that attempted to define the specific steps of a NEPA

process as implemented by a federal agency, in this case the Forest Service (Lee et

al. 2003). They identified over 800 specific steps in Forest Service NEPA processes, more or less precluding an opportunity to explore the significance or

effectiveness of any of those steps.

Our stage-by-stage look at specific processes is based on agency guidance

documents identifying the main steps of the process: pre-NEPA planning, definition

of the purpose and need for the project, deciding the level of documentation,

scoping, interagency coordination, alternatives development, impact analyses, document development, public involvement, and decisionmaking and reporting. We

take this approach not only to understand how these processes unfold differently

across projects and across agencies, but also to identify where critical uncertainties

lie within each agency. By using particular processes as frameworks for discussion,

we were able to examine cross-cutting themes of interest to the agencies and the

broader community of NEPA scholars. These cross-cutting themes include perceived purposes of NEPA, definitions of success in NEPA processes, NEPA’s
4

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

relationship to decisionmaking, the division of labor and team interactions, and the

role of the public, the courts, and other agencies.

This report addresses these themes through the lenses of agency personnel we

interviewed, and thus represents only a small fraction of the spectrum likely present

within each agency. We explicitly have chosen to place our exploratory emphasis on

the viewpoints of NEPA administrators and implementers owing to the largely

discretionary nature of NEPA implementation across these agencies. The remainder

of this section provides some additional background regarding the significance of

the cross-cutting themes identified above. Further, it explains the theoretical basis

for our research approach, focusing primarily upon themes related to defining the

trajectory of NEPA processes, charting a course through them, and their relationship to decisionmaking.

Discretion, Decisionmaking, and the “Critical Task”

Although NEPA lays out a general framework for planning and environmental

analysis, its guidelines, in tandem with agency planning guidance, allow for a wide

degree of discretion at all levels within implementing agencies. Procedures associated with NEPA focus primarily upon the mandated development of a detailed

statement to accompany any “recommendation or report on proposals for legislation and other major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human

environment” (Sec. 102 [42 USC § 4332]). This document is required to analyze

the short- and long-term environmental impacts and tradeoffs of the proposed

action along with potential alternatives for meeting the project goals. The act

further mandates that the statement be developed in consultation with federal,

state, and local agencies authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards

and made available to the President, the CEQ, and the public (Sec. 102 [42 USC §

4332]). Agencies typically put together interdisciplinary teams to develop these

statements. These teams are typically separate from the decisionmaker. Figure 1

depicts the general process through which NEPA requirements are typically met by

federal agencies in the development of an environmental impact statement.

In short, NEPA requires an environmental analysis and the full disclosure of its

results for all federal actions with the potential to significantly impact the environment. The act does not enforce or prohibit specific decisions, but rather aims to

educate decisionmakers, other relevant agencies, and the general public about the

environmental consequences of government actions through a set of general process

requirements intended to achieve more environmentally appropriate outcomes

(Caldwell 1998, Dreyfus and Ingram 1976).
5

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Gauging NEPA’s true impact on decisionmaking can be challenging.1 Although

monitoring the environmental impacts of decisions that have followed NEPA

processes is often planned, it rarely gets carried out fully (Karkkainen 2002).

Further complicating the matter, determining how the requirements of NEPA have

actually influenced decisionmakers requires a high degree of speculation about

what decisions would have been made absent NEPA requirements. The literature

points to only a few effects of NEPA upon agencies’ planning processes that are

not widely debated. Through the requirement of interdisciplinary analysis, agency

staffs have become less homogeneous, particularly in terms of disciplinary training

(Ackerman 1990, Culhane 1990). Although the scope and techniques employed for

1

 Case studies have shown variable results of NEPA’s impacts upon decisionmaking within

federal land management agencies. For example, O’Brien (1990) described one case in

which the NEPA process led to a direct change in Forest Service policies and another in

which a similar process had virtually no effect on a similar policy of the Bureau of Land

Management. Moreover, Kaiser (2006) found that although public involvement required

by NEPA was able to cause the Forest Service to expend more energy making clear its

rationale for decisions, it actually had relatively little impact upon agency decisions, and the

NEPA process as a whole had little impact on changing agency preferences.

Figure 1—Generalized model of a

National Environmental Policy Act

process for an environmental impact

statement.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

public involvement differ considerably, NEPA has generally worked to enhance the

transparency of agency analyses and decisionmaking (Ackerman 1990, Black 2004,

Espeland 1994). Analyses of environmental impacts are made available for public

scrutiny through NEPA processes, and a wider range of alternatives is commonly

considered in the analysis process than may otherwise take place (Ackerman 1990,

Canter and Clark 1997, Espeland 1994).

These shifts have come with associated costs of long delays in decisionmaking

as analyses are performed and reports are produced, and of high-priced responses

to litigation of the agency processes. The requirements of NEPA have presented

additional managerial challenges including, but not limited to, determining the appropriate scope of analyses, identifying a reasonable range of alternatives, staffing

interdisciplinary teams with adequate expertise, facilitating effective public involvement, coping with litigation, and training agency personnel in how to comply with

the act (Bear 2003, Canter and Clark 1997, Culhane 1990, Laband et al. 2006,

Malmsheimer et al. 2004, Poisner 1996, Twelker 1990). These costs are particularly acute in the Forest Service, where litigation and appeals have been on the rise

in the last decade (Malmsheimer et al. 2004).

Most of the planning work that takes place in the federal land management

agencies does so at the level of the ID team, which is tasked with complying with

a number of critical laws, including NEPA, as described above. The ambiguous

mandates of these laws often leave these teams to define their critical tasks for

themselves, usually in communication with the person charged with making a final

decision on a given planning initiative. This discretion suggests that the outcomes

of these processes, which can be social, economic, managerial, political, organizational, and environmental, may be powerfully driven by the particular practices,

dispositions, values, attitudes, situations, and beliefs of ID team members and the

line officers who influence their behaviors. In other words, as they “muddle

through” the process, their incremental decisions at each step along the way largely

shape process outcomes (Lindblom 1959).

James Q. Wilson, in his widely respected classic Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It, argued that the “critical task” of an agency

is often more important than its stated mission. He further distinguished between

the existence of an agency’s stated mission and whether or not that agency has a

“sense of mission.” Wilson defined critical tasks as “those behaviors which, if

successfully performed by key organizational members, would enable the organization to solve its critical environmental problem” (Wilson 1989: 25). These critical

NEPA has generally

worked to enhance

the transparency of

agency analyses and

decisionmaking.
7

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

environmental problems differ considerably from agency to agency as do their

associated tasks. Wilson uses examples such as maintaining order among inmates

in the Texas penal system (the environmental problem) through clear elaboration

and enforcement of the rules (the critical task) or the Social Security Administration’s clear critical task “to pay benefits on time and accurately.” Whereas all federal agencies have a mission statement, not all, Wilson argues, have a clear sense

of mission. A clear sense of mission only comes when the definition of the critical

task “is widely accepted and endorsed” (Wilson 1989: 25). This form of a sense of

mission has been linked by Wilson as well as other researchers to improved performance (Wilson 1989, Wright 2007), highlighting the central importance of a clear

critical task.

For federal land management agencies, defining a singular critical task often

poses a problem. The mission of the Forest Service, for example, “to sustain the

health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the

needs of present and future generations,” could in theory be approached from an

endless array of angles, with each potential strategy or task posing its own social,

political, economic, ecological, and organizational dilemmas. The Forest Service

cannot simply “pay benefits on time and accurately.” Rather, planning teams must

navigate through competing interests and information from multiple sources to

perform their tasks based upon an interpretation, or interpretations, of how they

might meet the mission of the agency.2

 The BLM has a mission similar to that of

the Forest Service, “to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public

lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.” The NPS’s

mission contains a dual mandate to provide for recreation and enjoyment as well

as to leave resources “unimpaired for future generations,” which also may pose

challenges for defining the critical task of any particular undertaking. The discretion provided by NEPA process guidance can often make defining the critical task

of any particular process a “street-level” exercise, heavily influenced by field

officers and staff on individual units or projects (Lipsky 1980).

As such, in addition to reviewing guidance documents of each agency, the

views of individuals involved in administering and implementing NEPA processes

represent a relevant area of inquiry for better understanding how these processes

actually unfold. This research set out to explore the ways in which various agency

personnel interpret the goals and objectives of their agency’s NEPA processes. The

2 Alternatively, other motives can supplant the overall mission of the agency.

Planning teams must

navigate through

competing interests

and information from

multiple sources to

perform their tasks

based upon an interpretation of how

they might meet the

mission of the

agency.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

research uses specific case studies to also examine the incremental decisions that

may influence how NEPA processes unfold. To accomplish these goals, we focus

upon observable aspects of the processes (e.g., the forms of public involvement,

the sequences of events, and division of labor) and upon the opinions of some of

the key actors involved in each process. As a result, this report shares a collection

of different practices employed across the agencies, uncovers some strengths and

weaknesses of different NEPA strategies, and identifies key areas for further inquiry that could help to improve NEPA processes in federal land management

agencies.

Methods

Our study progressed in four distinct stages, with each stage building upon the

preceding stage. Our intent was to progressively increase the resolution of the

study, from broader agencywide mandates to perceptions of personnel in specific

NEPA implementation situations. We carried out reviews of agency guidance

documents and reviews of peer-reviewed and gray literature on NEPA. These

reviews were followed by two sets of interviews: the first with the chief NEPA

compliance officers of each agency and the second with NEPA practitioners in the

field in selected case studies.

Unique Treatment of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

We set out to complete a cross-agency comparison of the Forest Service, the

Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the Army Corps of

Engineers, that would approach analysis of each agency in the same way. It became

apparent early in our process, however, that the Army Corps was an outlier in the

study, differing in fundamental ways from the other agencies. The scope of its

projects commonly dwarfed the projects of the other agencies. Yet, USACE commonly uses less intensive forms of NEPA analyses. For example, the Army Corps

has conducted a $90 million project with an environmental assessment (EA). Army

Corps respondents also described their NEPA processes as fundamentally related to

obtaining congressional approval of agency projects, with the record of decision

(ROD) dependent on congressional decisions. Furthermore, the Army Corps does

not independently propose any management actions, but rather responds to requests

from third-party sponsors. The sponsor, typically another government entity with

taxation or condemnation powers, is partially responsible for project costs and

often for the NEPA process as well. Finally, public perceptions of Army Corps
9

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

projects may be fundamentally different than those of other agencies owing to the

nature of its projects (e.g., dams, navigation, and flood control). These projects

may be perceived as more critical or necessary than harvesting timber from public

lands or closing a recreational trail. This public perception of need may insulate the

Corps to some degree from much of the conflict that so often plagues other public

land managers. At the very least, it changes the nature of that conflict. Rather than

calling into question an entire project, the means for accomplishing project goals

are more commonly the subjects of debate. To provide results most useful to the

other agencies, in particular our sponsor, we approached the Army Corps differently in this study, particularly when selecting case studies (see below).

Agency Document Review

To establish baseline information about the legal and policy requirements facing

each agency, we carried out an initial document review that included the act itself,

its implementing regulations (CEQ), any applicable agency regulations, and guidance and other internal agency documents that provided direction on NEPA implementation.3

 This phase was primarily designed to guide the development of the

interview scripts for the last two phases of the project. We compared agency requirements in the following categories: classes of action that trigger environmental

impact statement (EIS)/EA, use of categorical exclusion, emergency action provisions, development of alternatives, finding of no significant impact (FONSI),

staffing and division of labor, budget allocations, monitoring and evaluation of

mitigation, social/cultural/economic analyses, environmental analyses, decision

implementation, guidance, scoping, public involvement, commenting procedure,

document format, interagency coordination, tiered and programmatic documents,

and supplementals. It became apparent after beginning the interviews, however,

that the technical descriptions in the documents left such discretion to the ID teams

that the documents held little meaning for understanding actual NEPA implementation when compared to the case studies. We thus shifted our analytical emphasis to

the interview materials. As a result, this report focuses primarily on the results of

our interviews, rather than our document reviews, as this best reflected what

actually was taking place within each agency. Guidance documents and other

literature are cited when they add additional context or information not available

from our interview data.

3 Only agency-wide documents were reviewed. No additional guidance documents

available at the regional or local level were obtained in this effort.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Literature Review

We carried out a review of NEPA-related literature in both peer-reviewed sources

and grey literature sources (e.g., unpublished monographs, task force reports, and

agency documents). Again, this phase was in anticipation of the last two phases of

the project, and was designed to uncover research that had been done (or not done)

on NEPA implementation, particularly in the realm of natural resource management agencies. The results of this review also helped identify the most common

themes of interest to other NEPA scholars. This helped to inform the types of data

we sought. Both the document and literature reviews contributed to the development of our research protocol and to our interview scripts.

Washington, D.C., Interviews

To better understand overall agency approaches, and to gauge the perceptions of

NEPA in the Washington offices, we conducted interviews with the chief NEPA

compliance officer of each of the four agencies in October 2006. Interviews were

semistructured, ensuring our coverage of common key themes in each while

allowing for explanations and elaborations as well as for unanticipated themes

to emerge (appendix). The Washington office interviews were also used as a means

for identifying potential case studies.

Project Case Studies

We selected three case studies each in the Forest Service, BLM, and NPS in which

EISs and RODs had been completed within the past 3 years. In December 2006 and

January 2007, we interviewed the ID team leader and decisionmaker on every project. When the opportunity arose, we also included interviews with other personnel

familiar with the project, such as the land use planner. We also interviewed regional

NEPA coordinators knowledgeable about each project when possible (appendix).

To maximize the potential for meaningful comparisons across agencies, we sought

one project of each type within each agency that could generally be categorized as

the following:

• Primarily recreation related

• Primarily restoration/fire related

• Extractive or other traditional active management related (construction,

harvest, facilities development, grazing, minerals, etc.)

Although these categorizations often contain a degree of overlap in purpose, we

wanted to ensure that a broad range of project types was selected. The primary
11

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

purposes of the selected projects were derived from the descriptions in the project

EISs, or from agency database descriptions. These projects were not selected

randomly, but rather purposely, to represent a typical range of projects within

each agency. Once a group of candidate projects was determined, specific projects

were selected to be able to cluster them geographically to minimize travel costs.

We have no reason to suspect any systematic bias in our case selection as a result.

Our interviews covered nine individual projects in four regions: the Pacific

Northwest, the west coast, the Southeast, and the inland Rocky Mountains. The

projects specifically included:

• An access designation plan (Forest Service)

• A Healthy Forests Restoration Act project (Forest Service)

• A “traditional” timber sale project (Forest Service)

• A fire management plan (NPS)

• A nonnative wildlife management plan (NPS)

• A national park capital repair project (NPS)

• A recreation area management plan (BLM)

• A forest restoration plan (BLM)

• A postfire salvage project (BLM)

Table 1 shows the timing of each of the projects. Respondents were able to

estimate planning costs (or they were available in project documentation) on four

of the projects. In each case, costs were estimated to be approximately $1 million.

Of the nine individual projects, three had been or were currently being litigated.

Rather than selecting specific case studies in the Army Corps of Engineers,

we conducted one additional interview with a regional NEPA coordinator in the

Southeast who had been intimately involved with dozens of NEPA processes that

had been conducted in that region. This interview was geared toward seeking out

elements of the Army Corps NEPA process that might be directly comparable or

transferable to the other agencies.

Prior to conducting each case study interview, we reviewed the final EISs

and RODs associated with each project to guide our interviews and to familiarize

ourselves with project details and the NEPA processes used in each case. The

interview scripts are included in the appendix. All interviews were transcribed in

NVivo 7 software4 and qualitatively coded by the research team. We have declined

4 The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not

imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service.
12

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

to provide more information on the project names, specific locations, and personnel

to ensure the confidentiality of our respondents.

Caveats

In total, we interviewed 25 respondents (Forest Service, 8; NPS, 6; BLM, 9;

USACE, 2) and examined indepth only nine specific NEPA processes. Readers

should keep this in mind when reading this report and attempting to draw conclusions. The percentages we report here in various tables can only be construed as

generally indicative of the responses we received, and cannot be interpreted as

representative of the agencies at large. So too, our more qualitative findings reflect

only the perceptions of the personnel we interviewed.

This research was designed primarily as a pilot study geared toward illuminating key issues of importance in agency NEPA implementation. The wide variety of

responses obtained in our small sample suggests that there are other explanations as

well. Our review of the literature, our conversations with other NEPA scholars and

other agency personnel, and our own personal experiences suggest, however, that

our results reflect a large portion of the concerns of a much broader population

about NEPA. Thus, although the results cannot be taken to be representative of any

particular agency, the exploratory nature of this research appears to have accomplished its goal of identifying the right questions to be asked regarding the challenges faced by those in charge of NEPA compliance.

In summary, we caution against using the results of this study to make sweeping claims about how NEPA processes work (or do not work) within any of the

agencies studied herein or for any other purpose beyond the study’s exploratory

intent.

Table 1—Case study project timing

Project ROD NOI to ROD Planning to ROD

NPS nonnative wildlife management 2007 4 yrs, 9 mos. 5+ yrs

NPS fire management plan 2006 2 yrs, 6 mos. 4+ yrs

NPS capital repair project 2003 3 yrs, 5 mos. 3+ yrs

USFS OHV access designation 2005 1 yr, 6 mos. 6 yrs, 1 mo.

USFS Healthy Forests Restoration Act 2006 1 yr, 4 mos. 3+ yrs

USFS “traditional” timber sale 2005 3 yrs, 3 mos. 11+ yrs

BLM postfire salvage project 2004 1 yr, 2 mos. 1.5 yrs +/-

BLM recreation area plan 2004 10 yrs, 9 mos. 13+ yrs

BLM forest restoration project 2004 1 yr, 9 mos. 4+ yrs

Note: ROD = record of decision, NOI = notice of intent, NPS = National Park Service, USFS =

U.S. Forest Service, OHV = off-highway vehicle, BLM = Bureau of Land Management.
13

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Results

Although our original intention was to compare and contrast the NEPA processes

of the four agencies, we quickly came to the realization that our limited sample size

would preclude our ability to make generalizations about how each agency complies with NEPA. Variation within each agency was no less substantial than variation across the agencies. In fact, our results revealed that there were actually far

more similarities across agencies, particularly with regard to common stumbling

blocks, than differences.5

 Therefore, the results presented herein are organized by

theme, rather than by agency. Where clear distinctions can be made between the

agencies, we have drawn attention to these differences. In other cases, specific

agencies are not identified, as the findings apply similarly across multiple agencies.

We use this format to draw out common trends hindering effective NEPA implementation, practices, or innovations commonly valued by respondents, and differing viewpoints among our respondents. Although our interviews focus on numerous

issues (appendix), only those that emerged as particularly fruitful pathways of

inquiry are presented here.

Tables are presented throughout the results section revealing the agencies in

which specific themes or ideas surfaced from interviewees. These tables are presented to maximize the transparency of our research processes. They should not be

viewed as representative of any agency’s personnel or NEPA processes. All results

presented within these tables emerged from qualitative coding of open-ended

responses from our interviews. As such, our labels of agency personnel’s perspectives were not developed prior to the interviews, but through iterative qualitative

analyses of interview transcripts.

The Purpose of NEPA

The stated purpose of the NEPA is fourfold:

To declare a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which

will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and

stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of

the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation; and

to establish a Council on Environmental Quality. (Pub. L. 91-190, 42

U.S.C. 4321)

5

 The USACE presents an exception to this rule (see “Methods” section for greater detail).

Our results revealed

far more similarities

across agencies,

particularly with

regard to common

stumbling blocks,

than differences.
14

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Although the establishment of the CEQ is outside the realm of control of

agency personnel, NEPA implementers within each agency can have direct impacts

upon the NEPA goals associated with improved quality of life, improved environmental quality, and improved understanding of valued natural resources.

The purpose of NEPA shared above implies that environmentally sensitive

decisions and outcomes underlie the intent of the act, but the procedures associated

with NEPA do not force agency decisionmakers to select more environmentally

friendly alternatives. Most legal decisions have confirmed that NEPA is merely

procedural6

—including one from the 9th Circuit Court in 2008 addressing the Forest

Service specifically.7

Training manuals and agency guidance across each agency also

focus on procedural requirements, rather than offering any specific guidance for

decisionmaking. This is consistent with section 2 of the act and with CEQ guidance

as well.

Still, the question of the purpose of NEPA seems relevant to understanding

how NEPA processes unfold in federal land management agencies. Wilson’s (1989)

concept of critical task suggests that NEPA implementers’ conceptualizations of the

purpose of NEPA will guide to a large degree their implementation. We thus

explored how agency personnel perceived the purpose of NEPA processes.

What do agency personnel perceive to be the purpose of the NEPA process?—

Table 2 summarizes respondents’ opinions about the purpose of the NEPA process.

The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of respondents in each agency

answering the question. Most respondents noted more than one purpose of the

NEPA process. Some actually contradicted themselves in the process,8

 suggesting

a lack of clarity in NEPA’s purpose. All reported purposes are included in table 2

and were derived from qualitative coding of open-ended discussion within our

interviews. Response categories were not developed prior to the interviews nor

were they shared with the interviewees through prompts by the researchers.

The most common response was that the purpose of NEPA processes is to

disclose to the public and other interested parties the likely consequences of agency

6

 For example, see Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Res. Def. Council Inc.,

435 U.S. 519 (1978); Strycker’s Bay Neighborhood Council, Inc. v. Karten, 444 U.S. 223

(1980); Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizen’s Council, 490 U.S. 332 (1989).

7 Lands Council v. McNair, U.S. Court of Appeals, Case No. 07-35000 (9th Cir. 2008) (en

banc, rehearing denied).

8 One respondent shifted from saying that NEPA has little to do with decisionmaking to

later suggesting it actually can lead to better decisions. Another respondent suggested that

the purpose of NEPA was to involve the public in decisionmaking, only to later state that

the public has no real influences over decisions made in the process.
15

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

actions, the analyses undertaken to determine those consequences, and the procedures through which NEPA requirements have been met. Ten respondents went a

step further to suggest that the purpose of the NEPA process is to actively involve

the public. This involvement ranged from soliciting public opinions and ideas to

actively engaging the public in the development of alternatives.

It’s basically the sunshine law.

It’s to engage the public in government decisionmaking.

I think what NEPA adds or causes is there is a potential for public belief in

the process, because at least for us, the sequence of newsletters and the

series of public meetings that’ll happen to vet alternatives and so forth, I

think that creates a body of evidence that people can look at and see that

they, their wild ideas were considered, or what have you.

One-third of respondents suggested that the purpose of NEPA processes is to

ensure deeper consideration of environmental impacts than might otherwise be

considered. Only seven respondents reported the purpose of the NEPA process to

be about making better decisions. Some respondents specifically discounted this

purpose, explaining that NEPA has not had any real impact upon making more

environmentally appropriate decisions.

I think since it is public land and it belongs to the people, there has to be

some kind of analysis done to make sure that the project is done in an

environmentally safe manner.

Table 2—Agency personnel perceptions of the purpose of the NEPA processa

Perceived purpose NPS(5) FS(8) BLM(9) ACE(1) Total Percentage

Disclosure 4 3 3 1 11 48

Public involvement (beyond disclosure) 4 3 3 0 10 43

Ensure deeper consideration of environment 2 3 2 1 8 35

To make better decisions 2 3 2 0 7 30

Necessary procedure 1 2 1 1 5 22

Expand consideration of alternatives 2 2 0 0 4 17

Internal communications tool 3 1 0 0 4 17

Protection from litigation 1 1 1 0 3 13

Note: NPS = National Park Service, FS = Forest Service, BLM = Bureau of Land Management, ACE = Army Corps of Engineers.

a

 These figures do not reflect a representative sample of any agency.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Did we make a better decision because of NEPA? I would say that no, but

that’s because of this park, this superintendent... . [Interviewer: So in other

places, maybe. In other agencies, maybe it does?] I think definitely, yeah.

And I’m not just tooting our horn, I mean, I just think that this is just an

incredibly resource-oriented park, so we do things that, we don’t need

NEPA to keep us in line, basically.

Five respondents suggested the purpose of the NEPA process was simply to

jump through a bureaucratic hoop required by law, with three more reporting the

purpose to be to avoid litigation or to emerge victorious in court.

Well, the purpose of the NEPA process is twofold. ... NEPA compliance is

part of the approval process which has to precede the appropriations

process... And the other is to get a project approved by our own

headquarters. I mean, we see compliance with NEPA as merely part of the

project development, project approval process.

I guess what it adds is just... you’ve got everything covered, you know,

because it’s a law that you have to abide by.

I think in our case we will prevail because of NEPA. Because we followed

NEPA. So I think it ends up being a tool for us. And litigation’s not going

to go away, whether or not NEPA goes away. So I mean, I think that for

us, it will be useful in the future to have this document when we’re sued.

Other identified purposes included expanding the number of alternatives under

consideration and the use of the process as a tool to communicate issues and

rationales for decisions internally within agency staff. This latter purpose was cited

with regard to building consensus and educating staff through collaboration on

creating the EIS, or “working together and identifying common or shared places

where we can do work together.” Others cited the EIS, or more commonly the

ROD, as a useful internal communications tool to guide future actions and provide

baseline data.

You can take a document, a decision document such like a decision memo

or FONSI and you can lay that out and give it to the people that’s going to

implement the project on the ground and let them read that, along with any

other associated things, and that’s the way you’d get the project done in the

correct manner.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

The purpose of the NEPA process is to document and disclose the environmental impacts of the actions we’re considering undertaking. And it, as a

result it helps us, it forces us to think through the various alternatives.

I think the purpose is to ensure that agencies look at every alternative, to

alternative solutions, in order to resolve a problem; that they don’t skip the

broad view in order to do what they’d like to do. And that all the impacts,

whether beneficial or detrimental, of every proposed alternative, be

weighed and that there be some sunshine on that, that they be evaluated

by more than just that agency.

Purpose vs. process—

The NEPA does not mandate specific decisions, but rather a set of general process

requirements intended to achieve more environmentally appropriate outcomes. The

procedures through which each of the above-identified purposes of NEPA might

be addressed differ somewhat. Improved understanding may come about through

public and interagency coordination processes and through the documentation of all

environmental analyses and predicted environmental consequences associated with

agency proposals. With regard to the quality of life and environmental goals of

NEPA, Lindstrom and Smith (2001) explained two potential mechanisms for their

achievement: internal and external normative pressures. The first suggests that

agencies may reform as a consequence of having to write down the impacts of

their projects. Dreyfus and Ingram (1976: 254-255) further explained, “A proposal

accompanied by an environmental horror story should carry a heavy handicap” in

the decisionmaking process. The second suggests that agencies may choose more

environmentally friendly alternatives when faced with the external pressures

brought to bear by those reviewing the document, including criticisms by other

agencies, court challenges, and public opinion and protest. These pressures may

further enhance the understanding of valued resources by promoting more thorough

environmental analyses.

In reviewing respondents’ explanations of the purposes of NEPA, we see a

clear emphasis on process over outcome, particularly on public involvement. These

results appear consistent with early criticisms that NEPA distracts from more

meaningful engagement in environmental dialogues in its pursuit of documenting

anticipated effects (Fairfax 1978). We also find disagreement on whether NEPA

actually has meaningful impacts upon environmental outcomes. This was particularly common among Park Service respondents, some of whom felt that their

mission generally mandates environmentally conservative actions anyway. In short,

some agency personnel felt that complying with NEPA contributed little to the

We find disagreement on whether

NEPA actually has

meaningful impacts

upon environmental

outcomes.
18

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

original intent of the act, whereas others deemed it a valuable process through

which decisionmaking is enhanced. Similar trends were found in our Army Corps

interviews, where respondents felt that other planning requirements were “so much

more extensive than the NEPA requirements.”

Doing paperwork for the sake of paperwork to fill in the blanks; it’s just

not, I don’t think, what NEPA was ever meant to do.

NEPA is really just a label for the planning and analysis that I think goes

on anyway. But what it does if that’s the case is imposes more rigor or

process to the determination. But I don’t, in my experience; I haven’t seen

any big initiatives that willy-nilly were decided by the manager.

The NEPA process in my mind is an opportunity to present to the public

and get public involvement in a decisionmaking, in a way of sort of

displaying our thinking. This is what we think we want to do, this is what

we know about the issue, and we want you to participate in that process,

and so it’s sort of a public disclosure or a public participation document

and in many cases an opportunity to put on paper and flesh out the range of

alternatives. I personally do not see NEPA as a process to justify a premade decision. I much prefer to use NEPA as a process to get to a good

decision. And, as one of my old friends used to say, sunlight is the best

disinfectant.

Purpose summary—

Although it was clear that our respondents shared some basic views of the purpose

of NEPA—especially regarding public disclosure, public participation, and environmental considerations—there remained a divergence as to what extent NEPA is or is

not part of the decisionmaking process or a process unto itself. Further, the results

raise the question of to what extent NEPA implementation has drifted away from

what the respondents felt to be its goals. Future research could well consider the

degree to which process and substantive decisionmaking have become intertwined,

and to what extent agencies view that as desirable.

Definitions of Success

In understanding NEPA implementation, we wanted to understand how our respondents viewed a successful NEPA process in contrast to one that did not function as

well. Specifically, we wanted to be able to describe which attributes were identified

by our interviewees as indicative of success.
19

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Each respondent was asked how they defined a successful NEPA process not

in relation to the specific case study process, but in general. Content analysis of

open-ended responses revealed 20 themes used by agency personnel to define

success in the NEPA process. Table 3 shows the breakdown of these categories

by agency. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of respondents

answering the question in each agency. It should be noted that many respondents

would certainly have agreed with more of these themes if presented with a complete list. The most common responses largely fit into three categories: implementation, public involvement, and improving decisions. Again, although these

categories by no means represent all agency personnel, they provide relevant

categories for further exploration of what might constitute successful NEPA

processes across federal land management agencies.

Implementation—

Most respondents suggested that the primary measure of a successful NEPA process

is the implementation of the preferred alternative. Litigation and appeals were

brought up by some as indicators of unsuccessful NEPA processes, whereas others

suggested that as long as the litigation was won or the appeal efficiently addressed,

the process could still be seen as successful.

Public involvement—

All but one respondent who suggested that effective public involvement is essential

to successful NEPA processes specified that this meant two-way engagement between the agency and the public. About one-quarter of respondents suggested that

public buy-in is critical to successful NEPA processes. Others suggested that only

effective disclosure of environmental analyses and likely impacts is necessary for a

process to be successful. Contrary to other agencies, no Forest Service personnel

suggested that public buy-in indicated success, focusing instead upon a lack of

litigation or appeals.

Improving decisions—

Those defining success by the quality of the decision made at the end of the process

generally defined better decisions as those satisfying their agency’s mission and the

purpose and need for the project. Only one referred directly to a decision that

furthers the aspects of Section 101 of the act, which relate to a productive harmony

between man and nature. Only two respondents reported high-quality scientific

analysis as a prerequisite for a successful NEPA process, and only one suggested

that monitoring should be required to actually measure whether a decision coming

out of the NEPA process has actually achieved success.
20

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Table 3—Indicators of a successful National Environmental Policy Act process

reported by agency personnela

FS NPS BLM ACE Total

Indicator of success (8) (6) (9) (2) (25) Percentage

Project gets implemented 5 4 9 0 18 72

Effective public involvement 4 3 4 2 13 52

No litigation 3 1 3 0 7 28

Public buy-in 0 2 3 1 6 24

Good final decision 1 2 1 0 4 16

Disclosure of environmental

analysis 3 1 0 0 4 16

Follows all procedures correctly 1 1 1 0 3 12

No appeals 1 0 2 0 3 12

Efficient process that does not last

too long 0 2 0 0 2 8

High-quality scientific analysis 1 1 0 0 2 8

Well-documented rationale for

decision 0 1 0 0 1 4

Agency’s own proposal is output 0 1 0 0 1 4

Compromise between interested

parties 1 0 0 0 1 4

Clear purpose 1 0 0 0 1 4

Other agencies engaged 0 0 0 1 1 4

Other agencies buy-in to final

decision 0 0 0 1 1 4

Readable document 0 0 0 1 1 4

Outcomes achieve expectations 0 0 1 0 1 4

Avoids being predecisional 0 0 1 0 1 4

Note: FS = Forest Service, NPS = National Park Service, BLM = Bureau of Land Management,

ACE = Army Corps of Engineers.

a These figures do not reflect a representative sample of any agency.

A means or an end?—

Section 101 of the NEPA puts forth the intent of the legislation to influence in a

positive way the environmental effects of the decisions made by federal agencies. As

such, NEPA is a means to achieving a healthier environment. The CEQ regulations

confirm this sentiment (40 CFR Ch. 5 Sec. 1500.1c):

Ultimately, of course, it is not better documents but better decisions that

count. NEPA’s purpose is not to generate paperwork—even excellent

paperwork—but to foster excellent action. The NEPA process is intended
21

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

to help public officials make decisions that are based on understanding of

environmental consequences, and take actions that protect, restore, and

enhance the environment.

Thus, according to NEPA and associated regulations, ultimate success should

be based on the quality of the decision made and its associated impacts on the

environment. This implies scientific analysis and careful consideration of the

potential impacts of proposed actions. Section 102 of the act and associated CEQ

regulations discuss the procedures through which this purpose is to be met.

Only four of our study’s respondents suggested that the quality of the decision

actually mattered in gauging whether the NEPA process was successful or not.

Although more might agree with this statement if given the opportunity, it was not

the “most salient belief” of respondents with regard to NEPA success.9

The low saliency of high-quality decisions for most agency personnel when

gauging success in the NEPA process suggests that the procedure may be becoming

an end in itself, overshadowing the actual intent of NEPA. An alternative explanation would be that a good decision is implicit in the fact that it gets implemented;

therefore, it went without saying. Our research suggests that the former is more

likely the case. Our interviews revealed a powerful focus on process in relation to

product.

 It’s a middle of the road thing, you know, we try and compromise no

matter what, and I guess it just shows maybe that’s just the process

working, you know. You start somewhere, there’s two extremes to any

proposal or any type of management, and you know, we end up making a

middle of the road thing...

Others suggested that the NEPA process was entirely separate from the

decisionmaking process or that one had no impact on the other whatsoever (see

“Decisionmaking” section). This reflects to some degree that the original purpose

of NEPA may not be a particularly strong motivator for complying with the act.

Rather, staff interviewed in this study tended to focus more upon the processes

through which they could complete the procedural requirements of the act with

least resistance. In effect, procedural aspects of NEPA (e.g., public involvement,

disclosure, a bullet-proof process and document that can withstand litigation or

9 Psychological research (e.g., Ajzen et al. 1995) suggests that the most salient beliefs of

respondents in studies similar to this are those that are most accessible in memory and thus

most frequently and immediately reported by respondents.

In effect, procedural

aspects of NEPA

have become ends

in themselves.
22

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

appeals) have become ends in themselves. The following sections will provide

additional data regarding this finding, and we will return to its significance in the

final chapter of the report. How has a focus on NEPA’s procedural elements

influenced the achievement of its original intent?

Merton (1968) explained that ritualism within bureaucracies is often related

to means/ends confusion. Wilson (1989) discussed this phenomenon as well. As

bureaucratic procedures amass, they can often shift the focus of employees away

from their critical tasks or mission. In agencies where mission is unclear, this may

be especially common. Moreover, in situations in which more accountability and

transparency has been demanded by the public, the means for providing such accountability and transparency can be so onerous that they overwhelm agency staff

and in effect become ends in themselves. In the context of NEPA, this can be

particularly potent, as the language of the law and its implementing regulations

have the potential to mix the means with the ends in the minds of its practitioners.

The implications, however, are beyond the scope of this study, but may be ripe for

future research.

Success summary—

The diversity of viewpoints regarding what constitutes successful NEPA processes

suggests that further consideration of this very question might be appropriate both

for future researchers and agency policymakers. It appears that NEPA implementers

commonly orient their projects with somewhat project-specific goals in mind.

Although this may be appropriate given the highly variable contexts in which these

processes unfold, agency policymakers may wish to consider whether certain

consistent definitions of success in NEPA processes could work toward making

NEPA processes more efficient and their outcomes more predictable.

The respondents in this study most commonly stressed project implementation

and effective public involvement as indicators of success in NEPA processes. Future

research might inquire to what extent the two indicators are related, to what extent

factors exogenous to the NEPA process interfere with project implementation, and

what practices may lead to achieving effective public involvement. It is also worth

noting the pragmatic and substantive nature of respondents’ views of success.

Although NEPA is legally and technically a procedure, respondents commonly related “success” to the extent to which their processes achieved a particular outcome.

Determining the Appropriate NEPA Pathway

Fundamentally, there is some ambiguity as to what level of analysis is appropriate in each case. The NEPA and the CEQ regulations supply only the sparsest
23

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

information, and agency documents tend to directly reference the CEQ text. The

CEQ regulations do establish some sideboards for the need to prepare an EIS, largely

by outlining those factors that may contribute to “significance”—based on a projectby-project assessment of context and intensity in the proposed action (40 CFR

1508.27). Additionally, the CEQ requires each agency to delineate those classes of

actions that will “normally require an EIS,” and those that will require neither an EIS

nor an EA (40 CFR 1501.4). Each of the four agencies in our sample prepared a list

of EIS trigger actions. These specific triggers, however, were rarely referenced in our

interviews.

We found conflicting trends within each agency with regard to decisions about

document types. Most commonly EAs were preferred over EISs, although many

factors contributed to deciding to develop an EIS. Table 4 shows which themes

surfaced in which interviews. Most of our interviews suggested that legal concerns

and degree of public controversy most powerfully dictated document decisions.

Threat of litigation—

Respondents in all agencies reported choosing to prepare EISs from the perception

that an EIS is more defensible in court than an EA. There were subtle differences in

this perception, however, including the effect of advice received from agency legal

counsel.

...if you have more than a 30-percent suspicion that if you try to go the EA

route someone is going to stop you or threaten to sue, you’re better to spend

that extra 30 days, put your notice of intent out, circulate a draft EIS.

...the decision with sometimes doing an EIS is whether it’s going to go to

litigation or not, like I told you, and so that means that you’re going to make

sure you cover everything.

...it doesn’t take from their [legal counsel’s] perspective that much more

work to do an EIS, and the burden of proof on significance shifts. Under an

EA the burden of proof is on us.

Our solicitors push us to; they would much prefer us to do an EIS because

it’s easier to defend in court.

Significant environmental effects—

A number of interviewees noted that the EIS “permits” them to both incur and

disclose significant environmental effects. The particular impacts of these sentiments on the aggressiveness of actual management practices could not be determined
24

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

definitively in this study. However, our interviews suggest that EISs might occasionally be used to legitimize, or at least rationalize, greater environmental impacts.

Well, I like to say you can pave over paradise with a NEPA document.

...[an] EIS will acknowledge the impacts, we’ll say yep, we’ve got them,

we knew we could do that with an EIS.

We had no idea what the outcome was going to be, but with an EIS, you

can have a significant effect. And we wanted to have a significant effect on

the landscape.

If you really want me to have an EIS, then I’m going to go for the gusto

and have some significant impacts.

Public controversy—

Agency personnel reported that a heightened level of public scrutiny or controversy

can serve as a cause for drafting an EIS as opposed to an EA. Meanwhile, a lack of

public interest can serve as a rationale for abandoning an EIS—even absent any

other factors.

A: “We’ve gone from an NOI [notice of intent] to withdrawal of an NOI more

than once. Usually it’s when you put out a draft EIS and nobody comments.”

Q: “You just turn it into an EA?”

A: “You have to put out a new notice saying that we’re withdrawing the EIS,

we’re converting it to an EA, and we’re going to sign a Finding of

No Significant Impact due to total lack of public interest.”

Table 4—Reasons for preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS)a

Reasons for preparing an EIS NPS FS BLM ACE

Litigation/withstand legal challenges X X X X

Ability to incur/disclose environmental impacts X X X

Inability to tier to plan; programmatic X

Heightened public controversy X X

Note: NPS = National Park Service, FS = Forest Service, BLM = Bureau of Land

Management, ACE = Army Corps of Engineers.

a This table does not reflect a representative sample of any agency.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Relationship to programmatic NEPA documents—

Respondents reported that an EIS can also be prepared in cases when tiering to a

programmatic plan is infeasible, even though the project might otherwise only

require an EA. This calls into question the utility of the programmatic EISs in

many cases.

In the Forest Plan EIS there were some very general estimations... very

gross numbers, and that’s it. No analysis of the effect... none of what

would be the adverse effects of doing that... so we really had nothing to

tier to.

Reasons for using an EA—

Although one respondent in his agency’s Washington, DC, office suggested that the

only reason to do an EA was to determine whether or not an EIS is necessary, no

field personnel agreed with this sentiment. In those cases where the environmental

effects could be mitigated and an EA prepared, respondents commonly reported

opting for that technique. It was also notable that even though an EIS might provide

the legal room to incur significant environmental effects, mitigation of those effects

nonetheless may still occur. Respondents reported that mitigation was commonly

used to prevent an EA from becoming an EIS. These responses commonly referred

to such documents as a mitigated EA.

Q: “...[Y]ou’re going to mitigate down to an EA? How often do you do that?”

A: “All the time.”

A: “...I would say, we always have mitigated measures...If you can mitigate it

down below that threshold of significance, what you think significance is, you

can honestly have a finding of no significant impact.”

A: “And even with some of our EISs, they’re mitigated EISs, to be honest with

you.”

Q: “You...mentioned in your 20+ years of experience, you’ve never had an EA

turn into an EIS.”

A: “Never have.”

Q: “So clearly, for you, the purpose of an EA is not to figure out whether to do

an EIS.”
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

A: “...What I’ve always done is that...if I decided I was going to do an EA,

then that’s what we did. And we just stuck with it.”

Q: “And did you put mitigation factors into the EA,”

A: “Yes.”

Q: “To make sure that you could say,”

A: “Yes, right.”

Q: “Finding of no significant impact.”

A: “Right. Exactly, exactly.”

There was a general perception that the levels of analysis for both an EA and

an EIS were about the same. This may relate to one respondent’s perception that

EAs are being “abused” and becoming too lengthy and cumbersome. Still, respondents reported a common practice of mitigating away significant effects to be able

to use an EA. This was also a common practice to avoid having to report significant

impacts in EISs. These observations raise questions of whether there is a perception

that an EA is somehow “easier” than an EIS, or that it requires less analysis or

effort. Although some personnel appear to believe that to be the case, others report

that their EAs can be as lengthy as an EIS, and the work level is roughly equivalent. Even when respondents reported that an EIS “permitted” them to incur

significant effects, there was nonetheless a pervasive desire to mitigate away those

effects in order to sanitize the impacts of the proposed action.

Pathway summary—

Most respondents reported the general perception that if a FONSI cannot be

reached, an EIS is required. However, other factors contributed toward developing EISs, even in cases where impacts could be mitigated away. Decisions regarding

the appropriate NEPA pathway were most powerfully influenced by agency personnel’s perceptions of the degree of public controversy and the likelihood of legal

opposition.

Division of Labor

How are NEPA teams put together?—

Respondents from each agency suggested that the key factors in selecting ID team

members were availability, subject matter expertise, and experience with or training

in the NEPA process. The relative importance of these factors varied, however.

Decisions regarding

the appropriate

NEPA pathway were

most powerfully

influenced by

agency personnel’s

perceptions of the

degree of public

controversy and the

likelihood of legal

opposition.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

In the USACE, timelines and availability were cited as the most critical factors.

Project managers send messages to division heads to solicit any available staff to

work on a project. If personnel are not available, they may be drawn from other

districts. “That team is going to consist of design engineers, hydraulic engineers,

biologists, archeologists, planners, generic planners, probably some disciplines

from the most likely local project sponsor.” The requirement of a local sponsor for

all USACE projects sets these NEPA processes apart from those of other agencies,

as responsibilities for meeting NEPA requirements are shared between the agency

and the local sponsor.

In the Forest Service, staff availability was the most commonly cited determinant for selecting ID team leaders, followed by experience in NEPA, then by

subject matter expertise. Priority was always given to trying to find staff locally for

ID teams, but personnel from regional offices and neighboring districts were often

brought in when local staff were not available.

The formulation of the ID team, usually 90 percent of the time it’s just the

default of well, here’s your biologist that’s on the district and here’s your

district timber person and here’s your district engineer and they’re it, you

know, time and time again, you rarely see a custom ID team put together

specifically for a project, with maybe the exception of a forest plan.

One Forest Service decisionmaker described the ideal ID team leader as:

Somebody that can bring these very disparate interests together and meet

deadlines and interpret very science-based analyses into something that the

public can understand. And so they’ve got to... be able to work very well

both with the public and with other ID team members that may not have

the same personality styles as they do, or abilities, and so I’m looking for

somebody that can get things done, that can take pretty technical material

and make it understandable, that can see problems coming and get the

ranger and the supervisor engaged in those problems before, so we can get

them resolved before they become a stumbling block or an issue in arriving

at a decision and litigation.

In the Park Service, ID team leaders were typically chosen by the superintendent or deputy superintendent of a park based primarily on subject matter expertise,

although availability was of course a key factor as well. Common practice was to

select one member from each division of a park for the ID team and then fill in
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

gaps in subject matter expertise with additional team members. Park Service

respondents suggested that ID team meetings were typically attended by 5 to 10

people at a time, although around 15 people could be working on an EIS at any

given time.

In our BLM interviews, familiarity with NEPA, project management skills, and

communication and interpersonal skills were all reported to commonly outweigh

subject matter expertise, although the latter was also seen as important.

Both USACE and BLM respondents suggested that incorporating U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service (FWS) personnel directly as ID team members helped to streamline NEPA processes. The USACE in some cases actually pays to co-locate FWS

employees within their offices for this purpose. Funds are transferred under the

Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act.

What aspects of the process are centralized vs. decentralized?—

Most of the work within the NEPA processes of these agencies takes place at the

field level, but different aspects of projects can be centralized within each agency.

In the NPS, for example, the Denver Service Center commonly handles the coding

of public comments on draft EISs. Comments are sent to the center where they are

coded into categories and returned to park teams who then formulate responses. The

ID team leaders have shown variable levels of satisfaction with the results. In at

least one case, they felt the need to recode the returned comments, canceling out

any benefit of the centralized process (see “Public Involvement” section). Similarly,

the Forest Service’s Salt Lake City Content Analysis Team can coordinate the

analysis of large sets of public comments.

Writing may also be centralized within each of the agencies. In the NPS, entire

EISs can be produced by the Denver Service Center. This is most common in cases

where EISs have been court-ordered, are particularly complex, or when they are

legislatively mandated and there is no funding at the park level. Servicewide programmatic EISs are also done by this office. The Denver team coordinates the

entire process with input from managers at many steps along the way, particularly

with regard to the gathering of raw data and other site-specific information, the

development of alternatives, and public involvement. This tends to be more expensive than NEPA processes carried out by specific parks.

The BLM’s Denver office also works on EISs. Rather than managing entire

processes, they provide socioeconomic analysis expertise to field offices. In the

Forest Service, writing can be centralized at regional headquarters as well as the

Washington office with editing and revising taking place at the district and forest.

Similar relationships were uncovered in USACE offices.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Internal review processes are also built into each agency’s NEPA process.

Regional NEPA coordinators usually serve as the key internal reviewer. In the

Park Service, these reviewers flag particular items of note for the decisionmaker,

and a joint decision is made on the readiness of the document for circulation. The

USACE documents are reviewed by personnel at headquarters. Reviews by the state

office in the BLM appeared the most cumbersome of any agency.

There were a lot of, well, it felt like a lot of people weighing in at the last

minute about well, you didn’t do this or you should have done that, or

where is this? And none of those hurdles were made explicit before we had

the document up for review.

Even though we were delegated the authority to prepare the EIS and we

had approval on the record of decision, at, maybe not the 11th hour but

maybe the 10th hour, the state office says, “Oh, and we need to review it

before you go out as a draft.” And it wasn’t a little, mini-quick review, but

it was a big thing involving staff that had never been involved with it

before that. Contrary to popular opinion, the people at the state office

aren’t necessarily the experts, or the final word on stuff. And so you have

people that were weighing in on NEPA things that don’t know that much

about NEPA. They have their preconceived ideas, but that’s it. And so that

was pretty aggravating. Pretty darn aggravating.

So we were doing all our scoping in 2001, and the last field trip we did

was on November 15, 2001. We didn’t get the NOI into the Federal

Register until October 9, 2002. So it took that long. Part of it, we had a

change of administration. We were pretty sure that our briefing packet got

put onto the desk of a political appointee who had no interest in it because

it wasn’t oil and gas.

How are contractors used?—

Contractors were used by each agency. The most common reported uses involved

data gathering (conducting a specific piece of the analysis), reviewing and consolidating reports (editing, identifying inconsistencies or disconnects, helping with

organization, or ensuring NEPA compliance), or writing entire NEPA documents.

Contractors can also commonly be hired to coordinate public involvement. In

USACE this would most commonly take place through planning the logistics of

public involvement, whereas in other agencies contractors were employed to serve

as more “objective” or “neutral” facilitators. One BLM respondent suggested that
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

contractors were used in this sense primarily because they were better at publicity

and ad procurement.

If you get a good contractor, they can do things that we can’t do, like I

can’t avoid going to meetings and doing interviews, and having staff

meetings and stuff, so that I almost never have a chance to actually write

anything any more.

Common drawbacks to using contractors included high costs, misunderstandings or disagreements with agency staff, steep learning curves for complicated

issues, lack of subject matter expertise, and difficulty with contract management.

Because of the iterative nature of the NEPA process and its inherent unknowns, it

can be difficult to lay out timelines and develop deliverables. Therefore, it can be

difficult to control costs and to manage contracts. Some agency personnel did not

think contractors were worth the effort, stating that as they would have to review

all of their work anyway, they might just as well have done it themselves. Opinions

of contractors as facilitators in public involvement processes differed. Some agency

personnel were relieved to have the burden taken off them, but others found the

processes “tedious” and of little to no value.

We’ve had a couple of contractors we weren’t happy with, and it turned out

they were in part getting paid on volume.

Key stumbling blocks regarding staffing—

The most common complaints about the division of labor in NEPA processes had

to do with the amount of personnel time required and turnover in positions on ID

teams. Turnover in staff, in particular, created long delays as new members sometimes disagreed with prior decisions forcing steps back in the process. Commonly,

certain disciplinary expertise would not be available to an ID team, and budgets

precluded hiring someone from the outside. The team would then be faced with a

decision to carry forward without an expert in that field or wait until a particular

staff member could find the time to contribute (see “Writing the EIS” section).

You know, for me, it’s basically taken 70 percent of my time for the past 3

years. So that’s you know, collateral duty for me.

Other common problems included complaints about the internal review process

(discussed above), problems with centralized coding of public comments (see “Public Involvement” section), and disagreements within ID teams. Internal biases were

cited in one interview as a major force driving NEPA process outcomes.

The most common

complaints about

the division of labor

in NEPA processes

had to do with the

amount of personnel

time required and

turnover in positions on ID teams.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

We are often our own worst enemies, our own biases, whether they’re, you

know, sort of social or professional, there’s a lot of professional biases in

the process. That’s the one little loose end on this, you know. You get an ID

team together, and boy, it’s just like a little segment of society there, you

know, and they can all be on the same page or not, or be able to control

their biases or not, share their toys or not; ... a total wild card in the whole

NEPA process, I think, is the internal interdisciplinary team.”

At times the internal NEPA process, it comes down to who has the most

stamina or has the most desire to have something be in or be out.

Did respondents value any practices in particular?—

In one BLM process, the ID team was made up of staff dedicated entirely to that

project alone. The ID team described their sequestration as something that worked

very well, and that they wished to repeat. The budget on this project, recognized by

the team as somewhat of a luxury, provided for team sequestration, two team coleaders, a writer-editor, and a management liaison attached to the project that reported to the decisionmaker. The process took only 14 months from the publication

of the NOI to the ROD, contrasted to an average of over 3 years on our other case

studies. We must note, however, that even a sequestered team format that focused on

only one project and its environmental analysis failed to immunize the project from

subsequent litigation. The ID team leader and the decisionmaker from another BLM

project expressed a desire to experiment with the same methods but lacked the

funding to do so.

Taking a dedicated ID team and taking them out of what their other work

is, sitting them off-site, or just in a dedicated space where they don’t have

any other interference, can get the process moving faster, get the analysis

done faster, get everybody working together as an ID team much more

cleanly.

Our interviews also revealed great success in directly including a person from

the FWS on the ID team. The USACE respondents report that the co-location of an

FWS staff member in their regional office has helped to streamline their processes

considerably.

Involvement by decisionmakers early and often in the process was also consistently seen as a positive by ID team leaders, helping to focus the process, ensure

adequate staffing of the ID team, raise morale of those staff by validating the

importance of the activity, and resolve conflicts or difficult questions as they arose.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

The selection of a good ID team leader was also consistently seen as critical to

processing outcomes by decisionmakers and others involved in the processes. The

qualities most commonly cited as important for a successful ID team leader included being a good organizer, a good communicator, and a hard worker.

If you don’t have a strong planning technical lead [the USACE equivalent

term for ID team leader]... you wind up with a report that looks like a

horse designed by a committee. You know, it’s a camel instead of a horse.

Labor summary—

It appears from these cases that the administrative mechanisms underlying NEPA

procedures are sufficiently important as to warrant their own investigation. Our

respondents displayed very specific opinions on the format of ID teams, the use of

contractors, and the presence of other agency personnel—all of which could be

fodder for future research. The degree of discretion granted to ID teams and the

degree of flexibility in broader organizational structures and practices can clearly

work to either facilitate or obstruct the NEPA process. One might envision research

that aimed to identify the conditions under which different divisions of labor tend to

produce more efficient and effective processes.

Interagency Coordination

Challenges in cooperating with other agencies in NEPA—

The CEQ regulations require that federal agencies must cooperate during the NEPA

process in cases where the agencies share jurisdiction or have expertise particular to

the project proposal. Although all agencies recognized this obligation, each agency

also reported a number of challenges in meeting the obligation. The commonly

noted challenges to coordinating across agencies included the timeliness of communications and interactions, different standards or thresholds used by different

agencies, and a lack of cooperative agreements or memoranda of understanding

(MOUs). Irrespective of frequency, each challenge, obstacle, and in some cases

innovation, provides insight into how interagency coordination affects the NEPA

process.

Interagency NEPA documents—

Because land management projects may be at the watershed level or regional

in scope, they may demand more than mere cooperation between agencies, and

instead require interagency NEPA analysis and documentation. Although we did
33

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

not examine any such projects directly in this study, we did elicit a response suggesting that a deeper examination of interagency projects and documentation may

be warranted:

...there’s supposed to be an interagency EIS, but the Forest Service took

the lead. And they formed a local ID team, they didn’t sequester them

completely, but when they went to publish the draft, the BLM didn’t even

get a review period of it, and neither did the state office or the regional

office. And that was just unheard of to us at BLM, that the forest did not

go after the support of the regional office... it was really hard for us,

because we never even saw the draft until it hit the street, and it was

supposed to be a cooperating agency relationship... I was fit to be tied, the

district manager was fit to be tied, the state office was fit to be tied, but

guess what? The [Forest Service] regional office never got to see it either.

The role of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies—

It was commonly reported that the role of the FWS was an important component

of project development and analysis. Experiences differed, however, as to whether

the FWS relationship complemented the NEPA process or whether it impaired it.

Some respondents were able to speak quite highly of their working relationships

with the FWS.

We worked with Fish & Wildlife Service, Department of Environmental

Quality, and the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency]. We had them

out on a field trip before we have alternatives put together, and then we

worked with them before the record of decision was published to finalize

some of the mitigations and that sort of thing. That worked really well.

Those folks were very, extremely helpful.

I think our consultation with Fish & Wildlife Service went very well. You

know, we got very strong ties with them and I think even though they

didn’t like some of the things that we were probably, were going to try to

do, we were able to mitigate very well.

Others reported that working with the FWS, particularly when threatened and

endangered species were at issue in the project, was difficult at best:

I’d almost say the hardest part is dealing with the Fish & Wildlife Service.

It’s like there’s, it’s the place where there’s almost no negotiation. You

know, they have the say...
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

I feel that something has been lost in the interpretation or determination

of “likely to adversely effect.” They have made an interpretation that while

using a motorized vehicle on the forest roads and trails an individual could

collide with a Florida scrub jay (an endangered species), thereby killing

it. Therefore the proposed action will result in a “take.” If this is true,

then I see every project we do that involves driving, including driving

to the project site, will result in a take. This seems to be more than the

Endangered Species Act intended. Otherwise, why even ask the question?

It was also acknowledged, however, that problems with the FWS may stem

more from the agency’s workload than from some underlying antagonism:

I think the places where we had the most difficulty were getting Fish &

Wildlife to review our stuff. They’re required to do a whole review of it,

and they’re swamped with other compliance documents from other

agencies.

One of our Washington office interviewees noted that even when projects affect

the FWS’ own lands, the agency still tends to behave in a consultative role, rather

than in the role of a public land manager. The respondent appeared to indicate that

this disconnect between a federal agency that perceives its sole role to be consultative or regulatory versus agencies that have management missions was a source of

friction in carrying out interagency NEPA. In fairness, however, conflict in fundamental agency missions was not limited to the FWS:

A: “The biggest, the most difficult agency to deal with, and I don’t want to say

antagonistic ’cause they’re not—the most difficult agency to work with has been

the Everglades National Park,...because the park has really only one vision, and

that’s whatever is within the park boundaries...They’re not difficult to deal with

because we work with them on a daily basis, but our purpose is different.”

Q: “So what makes the Park Service so hard to deal with?”

A: “It’s the protectionist attitude, and the narrow vision. They wear blinders.”

State and local governments—

Because state and local governments routinely become involved as interested

stakeholders—often by virtue of their localized expertise—they can also participate

as cooperators. However, because local governments may have additional requirements for disclosure—such as state environmental policy acts or state freedom of

information laws—the differences in such standards between the federal and the
35

Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

state/local governments was reported as a potential problem. Likewise, differences

in perceived effects of a project, tolerance for risk, and requirements for mitigation

all surfaced as points of contention in working with nonfederal governments.

Q: “Have you had any problems with interagency coordination? Anything that

seems to be a common stumbling block when you need to bring in all these

different agencies to work on this stuff?”

A: “Occasionally with the... State Department of Environmental Protection.

Water quality is issued by DEP as part of a larger permit, an environmental

resources permit, and they feel that they can put all kinds of stuff in there that

really isn’t part of [our] process. Now we’re willing to consider anything they

put in there, but sometimes we have to demur. We have to say well, we can do

this, this, this, and this, but we really don’t have funding to do this. And we just

have to ask them to take into consideration that this is a public works project,

not a mom and pop dock...”

Innovative cooperation—

In several of our study sites, innovative approaches were reported, particularly

approaches that tried to address friction between the management agencies and the

FWS described earlier.

Q: “How did having a Fish & Wildlife Service member of the ID team work

out? Is that something that you think they’ll do again... or was it a fiasco?”

A: “It certainly wasn’t a fiasco. I would certainly do it again. And I would like

to have had someone from National Marine Fisheries Service also.”

We have a Fish & Wildlife person co-located. We have an EPA person colocated, and we have a USGS _______ person co-located... And they’re resource

people for us.

It does appear that funding may be an issue in providing opportunities for

increased cooperation. One interviewee reported that a local national park was

providing the funding for a Park Service project liaison to be located within

another management agency as a means of addressing planning efforts and

shortcutting conflicts. This more formalized cooperation appears to afford the

NEPA process a mechanism to get at the mission conflicts mentioned earlier, as

well as a method for providing much more intense cooperation than a mere MOU

might confer:
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

________ Park is paying for a liaison person to sit up here with us. He

just...work[s] on brokering what goes on...brokering, communicating,

hooking us up with the right counterpart in the park, answering specific

park questions as directly as possible. It’s his only job... I don’t know

whether the park is satisfied, but I’d say I’m pretty satisfied.

Interagency summary—

In general, having a member of another agency attached to an ID team or colocated seemed to facilitate project development within our selected cases. Meanwhile, local and state government presented common challenges to all agencies,

brought about by differences in standards for disclosure, in perceived effects of a

project, in tolerance for risk, and in requirements for mitigation. Although we can

begin to understand some of the agency challenges and solutions that interagency

cooperation under the NEPA has spawned, this study has raised a great many

questions about the relative effectiveness of MOUs, co-locating other agency

personnel, the funding needs for cooperation, and how best to satisfy possibly

incompatible missions of cooperating agencies.

Alternatives Development

Our interviews revealed five key themes related to how alternatives are developed

within the four agencies. Four of these themes regarded the roles of different entities or phenomena in the process, specifically the roles of the public, of the threat

of litigation, of the ID team, and of political concerns. The final theme focuses

upon the primary explanations for dropping alternatives from consideration.

The public’s role—

The public’s role in alternatives development differed both between and within

agencies on different projects. Most respondents described consistent concerns to

ensure that alternatives reflected the public’s input. In two cases, collaborative

processes were used to create a project’s first alternative. Although these alternatives

were not ultimately selected, in one case, the public created the basic structure of

the preferred alternative, which was a modification of the publicly generated plan

that included additional mitigation of environmental impacts and greater incorporation of safety concerns.

In other cases, however, alternatives were developed before the public was even

involved in the NEPA process. Although agency personnel reported that alternatives

were later opened for modification by the public, some also reported that the basic

structure of the alternatives was more or less set in stone with only minor details

actually up for debate.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

In most cases, the public appeared to exert substantial influence on the shape of

the eventual alternatives. Some respondents acknowledged that even an apparently

absurd alternative might, upon analysis, reveal valuable information to the ID team

and the decisionmaker and even work to forestall notions of “pre-decisional”

thinking.

One of our alternatives... I really don’t believe it would have been there

but for the public involvement. We had a lot of people say we like the idea

of doing restoration in the ________. We just don’t want you to do any

timber harvests. We just want you to thin the stuff and leave it. Nothing

commercial. And you know, most of us just rolled our eyes and said, “Oh,

that’s ridiculous, we can’t possibly do that.” And so, we said “OK, we’ll go

through the process honestly and put up with his dumb idea.” Turned out

the alternative was very feasible and was really quite reasonable and quite

reasonably effective. It wasn’t as effective as some of the other alternatives,

but you know, at the start we would have just completely discarded it

except that we had a lot of people clamoring for it.

I guess we could put it in, but it’s really outrageous, there’s no way this

would be reasonable. And I guess we could carry it forward a little further,

but it’s obviously terrible. In the end... that one was the one the decisionmaker was having a hard time deciding, do I do this one, or do I select this

other one? You know, as staff, the decisionmaker says early in the NEPA

process, “I know which way I’m going with this.” In most projects I’ve

worked on I’d say, “now don’t be too sure of that.” There are, I mean, we

do this analysis for a purpose. We learn things. And if it’s a good process

and you’ve really developed a good range of alternatives, you should

expect some surprises. We’re certainly, we saw that in this alternative we

thought that was outrageous and would be ineffective, in the beginning,

turned out to be surprisingly effective... .

The threat of litigation—

The threat of litigation often expanded the range of alternatives to include some that

otherwise might not have been fully analyzed. In some cases, alternatives were

analyzed even though all members of an ID team and the decisionmaker were

certain it would not be selected before any analysis took place.

Where was I headed with that? Headed to court. I felt like having another

alternative that was more or less out of the box, outside of where we

The threat of litigation often expanded

the range of alternatives to include

some that otherwise

might not have been

fully analyzed.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

typically look at treatment options, different than how we typically would

look at treatment options, would have a couple of strategic advantages to

me if I selected one like that.

I know this is going to litigation. I can show Judge ______ that I gave very

thoughtful consideration to that alternative. In fact, I did a complete

analysis of it.

In other cases, alternatives were created specifically to make agency-preferred

alternatives appear more palatable.

A: “We also thought that purely from a public relations point of view, if we

didn’t include it there would be a disproportionate outcry.”

Q: “So, one of the reasons for including those would be to have clear contrast to

the ones that kind of did make more sense.”

A: “Right, and to also have a spectrum. We really wanted to go from the least

amount of change to the most amount of change.”

The ideology of the interdisciplinary team—

As one might expect, ID teams exerted influence on how alternatives were shaped as

well as how alternatives were presented to the decisionmaker. Although some

believed that crafting alternatives on the extreme ends of the project’s purpose and

need was appropriate to demonstrate contrast with alternatives that “make more

sense,” other respondents felt that every alternative should be potentially selectable:

When we designed these alternatives we said, we don’t want any straw

alternatives. If it’s going to be here we’ve got to design it so that it can

be chosen, that it can be implemented on the ground. We worked really

hard on that, we worked or at least sent that message out constantly to

the public.

A number of respondents reported that ID teams have the tendency to artificially limit the decisionmaker’s options by how they sanitize alternatives prior

to the project decision. There were concerns voiced by some decisionmakers that

ID teams can sometimes mitigate excessively and prematurely the potential alternatives before the decisionmaker reviews them, thereby either coercing the decisionmaker into a specific decision or to move backward in the process to reexamine

alternatives.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

A: “What the ID team is doing within their process, it narrows the decision

space for the decisionmaker unnecessarily, and probably inappropriately at

times.”

Q: “Why do you say that?”

A: “Because the options are supposed to be laid out for the decisionmaker... not

mitigate them away and force the decisionmaker to a decision point.”

I’d rather have the ID team just do the analysis on the range of alternatives,

even though there are dirty ones. To me, it’s a better disclosure to the

public.

Some respondents suggested that ID teams can sometimes be seeking to present

the decisionmaker with the “perfect” or “silver-bullet” alternative, one that will

satisfy the public, avoid excessive impacts, and will resist all legal challenges. The

impacts of this phenomenon on decisionmaking are unclear.

We’re trying to not mitigate... all the alternatives down to one alternative

that’s already mitigated so there’s no decision space by the decisionmaker.

I’d rather have it, here’s an alternative, here’s an alternative, here’s an

alternative, here’s the impacts, here’s the impacts with this alternative.

These are the impacts. Here’s some mitigation measures that could be

adopted to further reduce these impacts. That way the decisionmaker can

mix and match when it comes to ROD time.

The role of politics—

Decisionmakers and ID team leaders alike are aware of the political forces that exert

an influence on alternatives development and choice. Our study revealed two cases

in which alternatives development was clearly influenced by political concerns. The

full extent to which political influences on the NEPA process actually change NEPA

outcomes remains largely unknown.

While the public largely supported it, the business community locally

didn’t. And they contacted their... congressman who held a field hearing...

and he heard from the business community, and he ended up putting

legislation in that got passed that redirected a million dollars to be spent on

doing additional study and analysis.

If we didn’t include it, there was a chance that a local politician or senator

or congressperson would do what happened to Olympic National Park and

just shut them down.

Decisionmakers and

ID team leaders alike

are aware of the

political forces that

exert an influence

on alternatives

development and

choice.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Deeming alternatives “unreasonable”—

Eliminating alternatives within each agency as unreasonable is largely a discretionary action. Only the NPS provides specific written guidance for discarding alternatives as unreasonable, defining them as those that are:

unreasonably expensive; that cannot be implemented for technical or

logistical reasons; that do not meet park mandates; that are inconsistent

with carefully considered, up-to-date park statements of purpose and

significance or management objectives; or that have severe environmental

impacts—although none of these factors automatically renders an

alternative unreasonable (NPS Director’s Order 12 Handbook 2.7B).

The last clause reveals that discretion is still largely at play in the Park Service as

well. Several rationales were commonly noted as reasons for discarding an alternative as unreasonable or unacceptable. Table 5 shows the agencies and different

reasons that emerged in our interviews.

Alternatives summary—

Alternative development is characterized by distinct roles for the public, the ID

teams, and the decisionmakers, although there appears to be a great deal of discretion in how those pieces fit together in a particular NEPA project. It raises the

question of whether such discretion can lead to arbitrary processes or capricious

outcomes, and whether such discretion is ultimately desirable.

A fundamental question raised during the surveys concerned the audience for

whom alternatives were being developed: the interested public, the decisionmaker,

the courts, or politicians? There is evidence to support a thesis that each of these

exerts an influence on the process. It is important then to understand what effects

these targets have on the nature of projects, on the scope of environmental impacts,

and most importantly on meeting the goals of the NEPA. Where do the lines blur

between each of these audiences? Can crafting alternatives that play to particular

audiences potentially undermine the purposes of the law and simultaneously create

unnecessary hurdles for agency personnel?

Might there be alternatives to alternatives development? Currently, the development of alternatives is an essential part of the NEPA process as described in the act.

However, some interviews revealed that this process might be hindering implementation of the best possible decisions. It encourages interest groups to select their

preferred alternatives and stick to them, rather than considering a wider range of

options that might be able to accommodate a greater set of interests while still

A fundamental question raised during

the surveys concerned the audience

for whom alternatives were being

developed: the

interested public,

the decisionmaker,

the courts, or politicians?
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

satisfying the agency’s purpose and need for action. When an individual or group’s

preferred action is not selected by the decisionmaker, they can often feel as if they

have lost and resort to litigation against the agency or other forms of protest as

their only recourse for affecting the decision.

Several respondents questioned whether the use and development of discrete alternatives is inherently polarizing and counterproductive to any effort

at consensus-building or public buy-in. Stakeholders’ identification with one

particular alternative can contribute to an unwillingness to collaborate:

From their perspective (the public’s), they thought that this is a way that by

golly, you get an alternative that is the right thing to do out there and a

pro-action and that’s it... you should pick our alternative. You shouldn’t

pick the environmentalists’ alternative. In fact, you shouldn’t even pick any

alternative. I don’t even know why we’re doing this. You should have the

action alternative that you proposed, or no action.

The Healthy Forests Restoration Act, in contrast, provides for increased collaboration with local communities in developing Community Wildfire Protection

Plans that may go on to form the basis of project alternatives. In other cases,

alternative models have been attempted in which a single collaborative recommendation has been made. Although this study did not specifically examine such

processes, we did ask some respondents about the possibility of a more collaborative model that results in a single recommendation, rather than a suite of alternatives. In general, responses were generally against the idea with the exception of

the case of programmatic EISs. Respondents often felt that alternatives were rather

contrived and meaningless at the programmatic level, leading to nebulous speculation about the potential environmental impacts of planning ideas. In these cases,

Table 5—Explanations for deeming an alternative “unreasonable”

Defining an unreasonable alternative FS BLM ACE NPS

Drastic action or excessive environmental

impacts X X X

Cost X X X X

Unlawful or violation of policy/plan X X

Does not meet purpose and need X X

Technological infeasibility X X

Note: FS = Forest Service, BLM = Bureau of Land Management, ACE = Army Corps of

Engineers, NPS = National Park Service.

Stakeholders’ identification with one

particular alternative can contribute

to an unwillingness

to collaborate.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

respondents were hungry for a new approach that could eliminate this uncomfortable exercise and the additional work associated with it.

...the only environmental impact you get with a Forest Plan EIS is if it

falls off the table and hits the floor...because it’s just...it’s 16 pounds

of...stuff that is pure speculation...

Analyses

Respondents keyed to a diverse set of concerns they considered important during

the analysis phase, citing both efficiencies and frustrations with regard to defining

the scope and intensity of analyses, the nature of selecting appropriate indicators

(qualitative vs. quantitative), using existing information versus generating new

information, setting appropriate thresholds, analyzing the no-action alternative,

and socioeconomic analyses.

Scope and intensity—

Most respondents acknowledged difficulties in determining the appropriate scope

and intensity of environmental analyses in the NEPA process. Some noted that this

uncertainty could be a significant source of delay and attributed it to a fear of risktaking brought on by a desire to create “the bulletproof perfect document.”

... a lot of times, the length of the process is not due to the public, it’s us.

How do we analyze this? How do we analyze that? ... probably the hardest

one is in the biological resources, you know, wildlife and plants. It’s hard

to measure. You can’t count rabbits or goshawks or whatever the species is,

and there’s a lot of unknowns, uncertainty in that discipline. And of course

nobody wants to make a decision where there’s uncertainty involved...

ultimately that seems to really slow the process down a lot, you know,

trying to come up with 100 percent answer on all of these things.

Several respondents suggested that changes in the way in which they perform

their analyses could improve the NEPA process. One noted that narrowing the

scope of what a project seeks to accomplish might be helpful. In other words, by

breaking a larger project down into something smaller (even several projects), one

might avoid an overly complicated NEPA process.

I might narrow the scope. Where we looked at everything from in-stream

habitat improvement projects to road decommissioning, culvert replacement, and all the various silvicultural practices, I might have looked at it

a little bit more specific to just silvicultural practices.

Most respondents

acknowledged

difficulties in determining the appropriate scope and

intensity of environmental analyses in

the NEPA process.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

This raises an interesting question: Although limiting the scope of the project

and its analyses might provide for a quicker or “easier” NEPA process, would

doing so undermine the purpose of the law? In three cases, process managers

actually lamented focusing on only a portion of their managed landscapes. On at

least one of these projects, it was believed at the outset that piecemeal treatment of

the landscape would allow an escape clause for managers with regard to public

challenges (“that’s outside the scope of this project”). In retrospect, all of these

managers felt they had taken an inefficient approach and dreaded the work to come

to treat the rest of the area.

A similar concern was raised in how intense the level of analysis may become.

Some respondents urged greater streamlining of the process. One noted the importance of trying to not “count grains of sand.” Most cited specialists’ workloads,

particularly biologists that are required for many NEPA documents, as a key

problem in more fine-grained analyses. One respondent suggested assessing impacts

in a more general sense—identifying any adverse impacts and making decisions

quickly, rather than letting the analysis process become bogged down in a quest for

perfection and with “wordsmithing.”

This perception corresponded to that of another respondent from a different

agency, who perceived that increasing levels of required analysis may meet neither

the intent of NEPA nor even make sense:

I’m not convinced that the authors of NEPA, and I know some of them,

believe that the level of detail that the [agency] goes through in doing an

environmental assessment, is essentially what they intended for an

environmental impact statement... there are all these requirements that we

have to address in environmental assessments that take, you know,

something that can be done in 30, 35 pages, and it becomes 70, because

you’re having to address, like we’re required now to address museum

collections in every environmental assessment... What value is it? You’re

not dealing with a museum collection. I should just be able to say this is

not... a museum, or... there’s no collection here that... we’re working

with, and so I shouldn’t even have to mention this in the EA.

Another agency employee reported that the intensity of some of their analytical

requirements forced them to spend time on impacts that were perhaps even speculative or specious:

A: “For instance... in air quality. Comparing prescribed burning, which it’s

fairly easy to quantify the smoke output, to mechanical work... so you’re
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

looking at mechanical work, you’re measuring the output of chainsaws and

chippers and pickup trucks. Is that, for what we’re doing here, does that

matter? And it turns out, A, you can’t measure, you can’t predict it with

much certainty.”

Q: “But you have figures in there on those.”

A: “I know. I know, yeah. So there’s an example. I don’t think those figures are

serving much value.”

Analyses performed for reasons seemingly unrelated to the particulars of the

project were identified in some cases as being driven by agency legal counsel.

Several respondents noted that legal counsel would second-guess the form or depth

of analysis and suggest specific alterations. Clearly, the threat of litigation may be

driving analyses that might appear irrelevant, but in a litigious, risk-adverse climate, may nonetheless prove rational.

Likewise, perceptions that museum collections must be evaluated in each

National Park Service NEPA document may reflect a misunderstanding of NEPA

requirements, or a concern that failure to include it will weaken the document in a

court of law regardless of its irrelevance to the project and the environmental

effects at hand. In our case studies, two out of three National Park Service EISs

referred to museum collections, but none had any effect on them whatsoever. All

were conducted during the same period. This suggests less of a mandate than a

perceived mandate.

Qualitative vs. quantitative analyses—

We did not find agreement on whether more or less quantification would lend

efficiencies to the process. Our review of documents revealed wide variation in the

types of indicators and data provided, ranging from very limited text with quantitative tables to extensive qualitative text with very few quantitative figures. The use

of discrete quantitative variables can work to streamline data collection and make

NEPA documents somewhat easier to navigate, but they may run the risk of limiting

the depth of analyses by only counting what is easily countable. Within each agency,

both quantitative and qualitative analyses were employed.

Our USACE respondents reported a general emphasis on quantitative assessments. For restoration processes, for example, the USACE always includes a “net

ecosystem restoration” calculation, “by acre-feet of water delivered or acres restored in some way or improved.” Some of our Forest Service interviews also

revealed a propensity toward quantitative indicators. Some respondents suggested
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

that quantitative indicators in tables or other simplistic formats (such as bulleted

lists) not only made the document easier to read but also easier to write by providing clearer guidance to team members in the drafting stage.

... how many stream crossings, how close to lakes...how many soils? Are

they wetland type soils or not? How many miles of roads and trails are on

those soils ... It’s easy to write it because you’ve got those numbers and

you just make it work.

Another respondent pointed out that using numbers makes ranking proposed

alternatives easier, and that it can increase the defensibility of the project documents. Meanwhile, other respondents felt concerned about the quality of purely

quantitative figures. For one respondent, this differed by discipline.

I think the push towards quantitativeness is actually a mistake. Because I

think it becomes, it gives everybody a false sense of security about things

that they don’t necessarily know, because you’re always predicting the

future... it’s like using a model and not fessing up to its weaknesses...

indicators for every single impact is just, is ludicrous. It just doesn’t exist.

So... in cases where it’s valid, it’s valid. Air quality particulates, that’s

fine... [but using] these indicators for visitor impact values is just really

stupid.

One NPS respondent described their internal “Choosing by Advantages” system

used during NEPA processes to make decisions regarding alternatives. The process

involves ranking options through cost-benefits assessments. The respondent explained that having the data laid out in charts quantitatively can lead to a false sense

of security in its validity. “I think there’s great potential to cheat the process... how

do you know everything’s in the charts?”

New versus existing information—

The tensions between analyzing existing data and gathering new data necessary to

fully analyze the proposed action were highlighted by several respondents. A common sentiment is reflected in the following statement from one respondent, “...[the]

NEPA funding process is not designed to collect any new information; it’s merely

designed to use existing information.” This was a common frustration: “... you’re

getting ready to do an EIS in ______ and you don’t know crap about the park... we

didn’t even have a good map of the park.” This respondent suggested that a database

of “useful... retrievable... and relevant information” would be of value for conducting NEPA analyses.

The tensions between analyzing

existing data and

gathering new data

necessary to fully

analyze the proposed action were

highlighted by several respondents.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Another respondent pointed out the delays and other procedural problems that

might be inherent with data gaps, but also that data gaps may be manipulated as a

means of satisfying a personal or professional agenda:

Well, we talked about that as an issue for this project, not having any data

at its onset, and that being the first 4 years of delay was caused by

gathering data. You know, you don’t do an NOI until you know what it is

you’ve got to work with. They did the NOI first and then they gathered the

data. We don’t recommend that.

... we’re never going to have all the data everybody wants particularly, but

the harder you look at things sometimes the more questions you have and

the more data you need... then you get the specialist saying well, this data

doesn’t support my view, so I need more data.

Another participant had mixed feelings about the use of existing data versus

acquiring new data. Although openly acknowledging deficiencies in baseline data

when the organization starts a project and that it would be important to acquire

such data, the interviewee resisted suggestions from stakeholders that federal lands

be used to empirically obtain that data:

... they [stakeholders] feel a deficiency is that we don’t have any research

on the use of explosives on wildlife... [they] want us to be the test... our

position is we’re not willing to use [our site] as that test site... But, in

general, I would say more baseline information would be really helpful in

knowing... and feeling much better about our determinations about level of

impact.

This apparent contradiction further confounds the question of what role NEPA

should have in triggering new data acquisition, and what role the federal land managers should play in conducting surveys, inventories, experiments, or other means

of empirically contributing to baseline information.

Thresholds—

The NPS and the USACE were unique in that they commonly had specific thresholds within their analyses that would help them both to determine the reasonableness of potential alternatives and to weigh potential actions in the decisionmaking

stage. The NPS distinguishes the term “impairment” from “impacts.” The term

“impairment” comes directly from the NPS Organic Act and provides managers

with the ability to set a threshold at which impacts become impairment. Any
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

alternative that exceeds this threshold is deemed unreasonable. Although thresholds

such as this can be useful to staff, they also come with specific challenges. Not only

can they be disputed by the public and special interest groups, but they can also

complicate analysis of the “no action” alternative. Although theoretically it is often

impairment that spurs action in national parks, ID teams do not use the term to

describe the consequences of no action because of the political repercussions of

implicating the superintendent in negligent management.

The USACE sets clear restoration thresholds for its alternatives. If an alternative does not restore a certain percentage of an ecosystem, then it is discarded.

The USACE is also required to develop one alternative that maximizes net economic development benefits. Although this alternative is not always chosen, it

provides clear instructions to project teams with regard to what is expected of

them. Decisionmakers reportedly base their decisions upon selecting the “least

costly environmentally effective plan.”

Interviews with personnel in other agencies suggested that clearer thresholds to

guide decisionmaking throughout the NEPA process could help to streamline the

process and ease both uncertainty and the fear of inappropriately (and commonly

inadvertently) biasing alternatives. An alternative view would hold that all such

value judgments should be made by the decisionmaker on any given project.

Impacts of the no-action alternative—

Some respondents expressed specific frustrations with the way they have felt obliged

to describe the no-action alternative. There was a general sense, especially on projects geared toward improving environmental quality, that NEPA analyses were

supposed to focus primarily on negative environmental impacts rather than positive

ones. Although there is no specific requirement in NEPA that mandates such treatment, traditional practices seem to have limited the use of the EIS to highlight the

negative impacts of proposed actions. In at least two cases, this feeling was enhanced by the nature of biological opinions submitted by the FWS. On one project

that focused on removing over 1,000 miles of roads from a managed landscape,

agency personnel expressed frustration that the biological opinion was written as if

each alternative was causing new impacts on the landscape rather than actually

removing them.

In other cases, some agency personnel were reticent to fully disclose the full

impacts of the no-action alternative. In some cases, this was for political purposes

(see “Thresholds” discussion above). In others, it appears that the no-action alternative was simply given less attention because it was deemed less important. After all,

There was a general

sense that NEPA

analyses were supposed to focus

primarily on negative environmental

impacts rather than

positive ones.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

the NEPA process is actually about doing something, not choosing the no-action

alternative. Our interviews suggest that fuller disclosure of the impacts of no action

might help to better highlight the potential positive environmental impacts of action

alternatives.

Socioeconomic analyses—

All agencies of the Federal Government shall... utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach which will insure the integrated use of the natural

and social sciences and the environmental design arts in planning and in

decisionmaking which may have an impact on man’s environment. Sec.

102 [42 USC § 4332].

Although NEPA requires the integration of the social and natural sciences,

socioeconomic analyses regularly took a back seat to environmental analyses in our

case studies. In one case, a NEPA coordinator actually suggested having no knowledge of what went into such analyses, rather farming out the responsibility to

others entirely.

We don’t pay a whole lot of attention to it, to be perfectly frank with you.

Many respondents reported limited expertise on staff to deal with socioeconomic analyses. The BLM uses its Denver office to supplement this problem,

although funding limits how often this actually takes place. In other agencies,

socioeconomic analyses can be carried out by consultants or agency staff. In the

latter case, the subject matter can be limited to the particular disciplinary expertise

of available staff.

Little guidance on socioeconomic analysis exists in agency guidance documents. The only substantive difference within the guidance documents of the

agencies in the study is that the USACE provides guidance that implies treating

public preferences as data. “Values information is among the most important in the

planning process. Values contain the information about what various publics think

the plan ‘ought’ to do” (ER 1105-2-100, App. B.5.c.2.e.2). Other guidance documents do not place value on public preferences. The NPS guidance actually states,

“Comments in favor of or against the proposed action or alternatives, or comments

that only agree or disagree with NPS policy, are not considered substantive” (DO12, 4.6B).

In contrast to the guidance documents, in practice, all agencies considered

public preferences in both the development of alternatives and in decisionmaking.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

The fear of public protest or litigation placed an invisible mandate on agency

personnel to do so. However, these preferences were not considered socioeconomic

data in any of the agencies, including the USACE, nor were they considered with

any consistent degree of importance.

One case study sheds some light on the possibility of public preferences as

socioeconomic data. A survey had been carried out assessing public opinions of

agency actions, showing that 84 percent of the public was generally in favor of the

agency action. Managers found this information useful in a number of ways: for

morale of staff, for confidently selecting the appropriate alternative, and for

defense in court. Whereas even defining a representative sample of “the public,” let

alone obtaining one, poses numerous challenges, we asked other respondents in

other areas a hypothetical question about whether or not they felt such information

would be helpful to them. We received mixed responses. Most commonly, respondents suggested that the public generally does not know enough of the science

behind decisionmaking to make reasonable judgments. Therefore, the information

would not be useful. Others suggested that public preference should have no

bearing whatsoever on management decisions in any case.

I don’t think those people have all the data that they need to make the right

kind of an evaluation. So I think they would be making snap decisions

based on things that are really not relevant. In fact, I think it would be a

really bad idea.

One respondent suggested that on projects that deal with recreation or visitor

centers, such input might be useful, but otherwise would be against the idea.

Another four respondents suggested that such data would more generally be a

welcome addition to the NEPA analysis process.

I guess, to me I think it’s useful data. And the reason it’s useful is because

if there’s an overwhelming preference for the opposite of what you’re

choosing to do, then I would think you need to communicate better, or

maybe you are choosing the wrong thing.

A final issue with regard to socioeconomic analyses that surfaced in our interviews is whether socioeconomic analyses need to be included in EAs. The CEQ

regulations (40 CFR 1508.14) explain that:

... economic or social effects are not intended by themselves to require

preparation of an environmental impact statement. When an environmental

impact statement is prepared and economic or social and natural or physical

Preferences were

not considered

socioeconomic data

in any of the agencies, nor were they

considered with any

consistent degree

of importance.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

environmental effects are interrelated, then the environmental impact statement will discuss all of these effects on the human environment.

This leaves some ambiguity as to whether EAs require analysis of socioeconomic impacts. One NEPA coordinator suggested that because the purpose

of an EA is to determine whether or not an EIS is necessary,10 according to the

above statement, analyses of socioeconomic impacts should not be required in

EAs. However, the chief counsel to CEQ recently wrote that:

... many people wrongly assume that agencies need not include social and

economic effects in environmental assessments (EAs). In fact, the types of

effects to be identified in EAs are the same as for EISs. In this context,

those effects include aesthetic, historic, cultural, economic, social, or

health, whether direct, indirect, or cumulative [Bear 2003: 956-7].

Analyses summary—

There are a number of perceptions, not all of them consistent, among agency

personnel regarding the analyses that NEPA requires, the utility of those analyses,

how to improve the availability of data, and how to actually get the work done.

Although our conversations were intended to discuss socioeconomic impacts analysis (the impact of agency actions on the social or economic conditions of affected

publics), they quickly moved toward the treatment of public comments as data. This

portion of our interviews raises more interesting questions than it resolves, particularly with regard to the tension between desires to both narrow the scope of analyses

in NEPA processes and employ ecosystem or landscape-level management strategies; the extent to which NEPA is an information-generating mandate; the appropriate intensity of analyses; and the disciplines necessary to carry out analyses

effectively.

Public Involvement

For which NEPA pathways (EIS, EA, CE) is public involvement required?—

Guidance on public involvement, in particular scoping, is one of the few areas

where distinct differences exist among agency guidance documents. Table 6 highlights these differences. The Forest Service requires public scoping for all actions,

whereas other agencies differ in their requirements.

10 It should be noted that no ID team leaders or decisionmakers interviewed in this process

felt this to be the purpose of an EA. See “Determining the Appropriate NEPA Pathway”

section.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Role of the public in the NEPA process—

Our interviews revealed four major viewpoints held by agency personnel about the

role of public involvement in the NEPA process, which we discuss in more detail

below:

• It is necessary to keep the public informed, because this is required by NEPA.

• Occasionally, the public can improve agency analyses and alternatives by pointing out issues the agency may have overlooked.

• Engaging the public in meaningful two-way exchanges can help to lessen conflicts and make land management more efficient and enjoyable.

• Public involvement can function to hold the agency accountable for actions that

negatively impact the environment, influencing more sound decisions.

Informing the public—

Some agency personnel reported that their public involvement efforts were mainly

limited to keeping the public informed. These respondents generally felt that public

involvement rarely added much to the analysis and had little impact on whether

appeals or litigation would be brought against the action. One respondent explained

that their public involvement processes were designed primarily to avoid “grandstanding” by the most vocal opposition. There was a sense in two of our interviews

Table 6—Requirements for public involvement for each NEPA pathway described in agency guidance

documents

Environmental Environmental impact

Agency Categorical exclusion assessment statement

USDA Forest Public scoping required. Public scoping and Public scoping and

Service comment period on EA comment period on

required. draft EIS required.

National Park Public involvement not Public scoping encouraged, Public scoping and

Service mandated, but encouraged. not required. Scoping with comment period on

tribes and other agencies draft EIS required.

required.

Bureau of Land No public involvement No scoping is required. Public scoping and

Management required. Public review of EAs comment period on

optional, although copies draft EIS required.

must be sent to all who

request them.

U.S. Army No public involvement Public comment period on Public scoping and

Corps of required. EA required. Public comment period on

Engineers scoping not required. draft EIS required.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

that agency personnel were primarily concerned with containing, or at least minimizing opportunities for, public opposition to their proposals. This involved avoiding open public forums. Although these respondents doubted their abilities to limit

appeals or litigation, they felt they might be able to avoid delays and the general

unpleasantness of public outcry. Two respondents expressed concerns about escalation of public dissent at public meetings by the media. One noted the impact this

could have on politicians who have influence over project funding.

All respondents in the study reported a general frustration that most public

comments dealt merely with preferences for one alternative or another. In some

cases, this sentiment translated into a stronger emphasis on merely informing the

public, rather than seeing public involvement as an opportunity to inform better

decisions. One respondent suggested that because the public doesn’t have access

or training to understand “all the data that they need to make the right kind of

an evaluation,” public input often has limited value. Others reported that selfinterested members of the public do not always understand the mission of the

agency or appropriate ways of managing protected landscapes. Some respondents

used such explanations to devalue public input.

I don’t think it should be part of the decision whether or not people are

happy. Because the best decision often times results in a lot of people not

being happy, because they don’t get what they want.

Improving analyses—

Although many respondents suggested that the public rarely, if ever, actually

improved agency analyses or alternatives, some still saw this as a key function

of public involvement. Others suggested that the public has had substantial useful

input into analyses and alternatives design. Even most of those who did not highly

value public input still sought information from the public that could influence the

analysis.

The only purpose of the public scoping was... to prepare the public... that

we were working on this and to get any new ideas for either alternatives or

impacts to look at that we hadn’t thought of.

In some cases, respondents explained how public comments improved their

final proposed action. Others noted that although the main thrust of a proposal

might not change, public comments commonly influence the quality of the environmental analyses and the details of carrying out the project. One respondent

expressed that useful input was rather rare in the process, though he continued
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

“wanting to get something significant that we could then use, you know, to change

our, one of the alternatives, to make changes and improvements.”

We might not have gotten this far. We might not have tried those last

couple of tweakages, and now we really have a better plan—a much better

plan... I think it’s arrogant of us to try to do that kind of, something with

such a high public profile, without effective public participation.

Public comment on the draft is still very vital in refining the proposal and

identifying mitigations or constraints.

In one of our case studies, a working group formed by members of the public

developed an alternative considered in the NEPA process. Team members had

differing opinions as to the value of this process. The alternative was not selected,

although the preferred alternative was based on its general design.

Engaging the public—

The majority of respondents suggested that merely informing the public and accepting their comments was insufficient public involvement. The term “engagement”

was commonly used to describe less formal communications that involved dialogues

between agency personnel and members of the public. Examples include informal

focus groups, site visits where agency personnel accompany members of the public

to a site to talk about the project, and “informal sit downs” where ideas can be

openly exchanged between agency personnel and members of the public. The idea

of engagement also reached into more formal techniques, such as open houses,

public meetings, and newsletters. The common threads of the idea are that exchanges with the public are proactively sought out and that public comments are

highly valued and conspicuously incorporated wherever possible into analyses and

alternatives. Collaborative processes fit within this concept as well. The techniques

described by respondents for accomplishing “engagement” are further discussed

below.

Although public engagement often began before beginning the official NEPA

process, no respondent suggested that the public should play any major role in

strategic planning or in identifying the purpose and need for a project.

Holding agencies accountable—

Some respondents viewed the public as a watchdog for agency actions. This viewpoint might be the most consistent with NEPA’s original intent (see “The Purpose

of NEPA” section). Agency officials can be differentially affected by normative

pressures brought upon them by members of the public to do various things. When

The majority of

respondents suggested that merely

informing the public

and accepting their

comments was

insufficient public

involvement.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

public pressures tend to coincide with the intent of NEPA to limit harmful environmental impacts of federal agencies, there may be a multiplier effect of their influence. When these pressures are accompanied by the threat of litigation, they can

become even more powerful.

To keep us honest, quite frankly. I think that there’s a certain level of

inquiry that can’t happen internally but can happen from a public

perspective, and I think that’s necessary. And it’s not only keeping us

honest, but what I really mean by that is keeping the plan on focus or, you

know, whatever the project is, on, so that it relates to what the public really

wants its stewards to do with its land.

Accountability can also relate to actions with primarily socioeconomic impacts.

One respondent described a scenario in which the Park Service set out with a plan

to tear down a visitor center. During the formal public involvement process, “The

Park Service got beat back. They had to fix it. They had to repair the building.

They never got to tear it down. The public outcry was huge.”

Public involvement practices and techniques—

Certain practices were incorporated by all agencies in the study. Each agency

maintained mailing lists to keep the interested public informed of opportunities

for involvement and the status of processes. In some cases, detailed Web sites

were maintained to track the process, make public the results of preliminary analyses, summarize public comments and agency responses, and publicize upcoming

opportunities for future public involvement. Each agency also grouped similar

public comments on the draft EIS, when possible, into one single comment to

which the agency would then respond. All respondents agreed that public involvement early in the NEPA process was also important. However, different respondents

preferred different forms of public involvement and have met with varying degrees

of success.

Public meetings—

Although some respondents preferred standard public meetings in which a presentation is made to a large group and then comments are made publicly, the majority of

respondents suggested that this was not the most effective way to involve the public.

Large public meetings limit the possibility for meaningful two-way exchanges and

allow for antagonistic grandstanding that is often counterproductive to the process.

One reported how grandstanding at public meetings by a vocal minority often led to

an inaccurate portrayal of the majority of the public by the press. Bad relations with
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

the press were cited more than once as a reason for avoiding traditional open

forums. Most respondents suggested that open house formats or formats that involved a presentation followed by breakout groups were more successful formats

for public meetings than traditional presentations followed by comments. Nevertheless, some stuck to more traditional approaches.

PowerPoint, where you’ve got the group sitting out here and then you got

the audience sitting out there, and if they want to talk they can come up to

the front.”

In one case, a fear of noncompliance with the Federal Advisory Committee

Act (FACA) was cited as a reason for adhering to a traditional public meeting

approach. Other methods described by other agencies, however, did not require

any additional processes related to FACA.

Valued practices for these types of meetings cited by those who conducted them

included answering any questions up front before taking comments and having a

high-ranking, charismatic official as the primary communicator. Opinions on the

effectiveness of contractors as a “neutral” third party varied widely.

Open houses—

Some agencies followed traditional public meetings with open house sessions, in

which agency personnel would staff stations containing information related to

different aspects of the project. In other cases, public meetings were avoided

altogether in favor of open houses. Agency personnel would make themselves

available along with analysis results, maps, and other related information for

an extended period of time, stretching into the evening to allow for maximum

attendance. Agency personnel would answer questions and provide comment cards

for people who would attend. Some noted the advantages of being able to avoid

public grandstanding with this technique. Others noted the value of communicating

in small groups and allowing different constituencies to interact in a less dramatic

setting. Still others defaulted to open houses because of their relative ease.

It’s easier to just answer questions, you know, than to try to think up a

presentation that covers everyone’s questions... We just felt that it was

better, it was a better avenue to reach a lot of different people.

Breakout sessions—

Public meetings were also sometimes followed by breakout sessions, during which

public comments would be invited and recorded. Respondents reported that the

loudest voices would often go home prior to the start of breakout sessions, realizing
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

that their opportunity to voice opposition in a more public forum would not be

granted. Although respondents expressed satisfaction with replacing public responses to the entire meeting with comments in breakout groups for this reason,

its impacts upon appeals, litigation, and other forms of public protest are unclear.

Smaller, less formal meetings with specific constituencies—

Some respondents reported that meeting with different constituencies separately was

a more effective means for public involvement than any other. Many personnel

viewed such meetings as easier. They reportedly helped to build trust between

agency personnel and different facets of the public, limited opportunities for interconstituency conflict, and allowed for more meaningful exchanges of ideas and

concerns. One project involved 2 years of informal meetings with constituencies

prior to developing the purpose and need.

I think that’s [sitting down with constituencies informally] just as good and

a heck of a lot cheaper and faster than, you know, the whole facilitated

collaborative group grope kind of a thing.

[The project team] worked hard to sit down with them [constituency

groups] and invite them in and talk to them about the issue and hear their

side over and over and over again, you know, and I got feedback from even

the _________________. “You know, we disagree with you but at least

you’re listening to us. At least you’re sitting down and we’re talking about

it.” And, you know, I think that that was well done. I mean, far more than

you would have to do under any type of typical NEPA guidelines.

I think it really did pay dividends in that we had several participants who

said, “well, we still don’t like cutting trees. But we understand what you’re

going to do and why you’re going to do it, and we can live with this.”

Site visits—

Informal field visits with members of the public and specific constituencies were

also incorporated into public involvement processes. Respondents highly valued

these processes in all cases in which they were conducted. This form of engagement

can have effects similar to other types of informal meetings and can also work to

further build a common understanding of the resource.

Even timber sales and stuff, we’ll take people out into the field to look at

the site and talk about what the proposed action is, and sometimes they will

appeal just to appeal, you know, they’re going to. But if you take them out
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

there and explain what’s going on, they won’t. And that has happened here

on this forest... it comes back to the forest plan. If they agree with the

desired future conditions, and you can show that this proposed action will

help achieve that, then [things will be OK], but if all they’re reading is the

document, they don’t quite pick up on all that.

Attempts at collaboration—

Techniques described as “collaborative processes” by respondents were attempted in

two of our case studies. In each case, a group made up of members of the public

representing different interests actually developed an alternative that was fully

analyzed in the EIS. In the first case, the agency was able to choose between two

publicly developed alternatives with the added benefit of a legislative FACA exemption. The agency chose to include one in the EIS analysis, although it was not

ultimately chosen as the preferred alternative. Agency personnel reported including

this particular citizen alternative because its analysis would demonstrate the broad

range of management options the agency considered.

Although the second group in the other case study did not have formal federal

advisory committee status, it functioned in a similar manner, but the public stakeholders worked more closely with agency personnel in their meetings. The public

alternative that was developed was not selected as the preferred alternative. It was

rather used as the basis from which to create the preferred alternative, which

basically built in environmental mitigations to the public alternative. Agency

employees had mixed feelings about the process. It took nearly 2 years, and the

environmental constituency resigned from the process and submitted its own

alternative. One agency staffer suggested it had no impact whatsoever on the final

plan; one suggested it had a slightly negative influence on the process, because the

public failed to take an ecosystem approach to the problem, rather focusing on

pieces of the landscape that interested each personally. As the agency was reticent

to completely scrap the public’s alternative, they felt obliged to build from it. A

third staffer suggested that the collaborative process had a positive impact on the

final outcome, better accounting for public use of the landscape. It is unclear

whether the process limited appeals or enhanced public support (two appeals were

received, one upheld).

Although these two cases were described as collaborative processes by the

personnel we interviewed, the collaboration was primarily limited to alternative

development and the stages of the NEPA process leading up to it. It was not

extended into decisionmaking, which was undertaken by agency personnel, consistent with agency and CEQ guidance.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

The meetings to me were productive because we did get what we wanted

out of there. We got alternatives out of there and we got everybody’s

opinion. What it did, in a way, though, it isolated a lot instead of bringing

people together in a consensus; it probably isolated more people than it did

bring people together.

You know, they come in and think they’re going to vote, or one thing or

another, when really what you’re just trying to do is have a better

understanding of what they want, and, you know, help them. So you just

spend a lot of time getting them up to speed with the process, and then

getting their biases out of the process a little bit. It seems to, it makes it so

much harder, I think... I’ve done it a lot of ways, you know, the old days

we’d just send out a letter and hope nobody replies, or... the other extreme,

you know, these collaborative groups with outside facilitators, and you just

feel warm and fuzzy all over, but they a lot of times don’t go—I’ve been

involved with a couple of these and they usually just, so somebody gets

angry and goes home, and when they ultimately don’t get what they want it

puts more pressure on us, I think, so I don’t think it’s a good thing.

Timing and disclosure—

Although all respondents agreed on the importance of early public involvement,

there was less agreement on the nature of that involvement. In general, respondents

advocated for reaching out to the public informally, especially groups that have a

specific interest, as early as possible. According to one respondent, the public should

be involved even in the formulation of the purpose and need.

One finding that could prove important if studied further illuminates the timing of public involvement in relation to the development and disclosure of alternatives. In one process, alternatives were developed internally and shared with other

agencies for comment before the first scoping meetings with the public. The agency

purposefully did not share the alternatives at this meeting. “What we really wanted

to do was say, ‘It’s wide open. We’re thinking about everything. Just give us your

ideas.’ ” Although respondents associated with the case study had no strong opinions about the effect of this decision, prior research by one of the authors of this

report suggests that this can lead to a perception that the agency is hiding its true

intentions and lead to additional public perceptions of pre-decisionality (Stern

2006). These accusations were common in this case study, but they could not be

directly linked to this decision.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Another agency’s personnel suggested that alternatives should be presented to

the public at the first possible opportunity. In other cases, the public was actively

involved in developing alternatives.

I’d rather give them a good target to focus their aim. I think it’s a much

more productive, it’s more productive time.

Addressing public comments—

Two types of public comments were common to all case studies: scoping comments

and comments on the draft EIS. Some common practices and challenges applied to

both types of comments, whereas others were unique.

Form letters were a common source of frustration in each agency. Most commonly, they were counted and treated as a single comment to which a response

would be made in the EIS. One respondent opted not to report the number of form

letters received for fear that the public, or other audience, might grant undue importance to the comment. A common perception is reflected by one agency official

who explained what she does when she receives a petition in her own personal mail,

“I tear them up and throw them in the wastebasket because I know exactly what

effect they have on public officials like me—none whatsoever.”

Most respondents stressed the importance of demonstrating a clear response

to all comments, whether received in scoping or on the draft EIS. Most EISs we

reviewed contained an appendix with a two-column table containing summarized

comments in one column and agency responses in the other. Summarized comments

are also made available on Web sites. The USACE sometimes publishes the entire

transcript of public meetings along with all comments on their Web sites.

Get their input and say thank you and then go back and put as much of

their input into an alternative as you can, so they can clearly see that you

listened and are acting on what they wanted.

In one of our case studies, scoping comments received far less formal attention than comments on the draft EIS. Presentations were given to different constituencies and a public scoping meeting was held, yet comments were not officially

recorded. The ID team leader explained that after the agency’s presentation, “... we

would, you know, listen to comments, but mainly it was sort of an informational

thing so that people knew that this was going on, and we told them how comments

could be given and... what we thought the schedule for the EIS would be.” Comments were not actually recorded. The respondent described communications with

participants.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

After the scoping meeting you need to wait for the draft. When the draft

comes out then you can give comments. Well, I mean, we said, basically

you can always call the park and give comments, but if you want to give

formal comments that are going to included in the record, the

administrative record, this is when you do it.

Some other cases also reflected a tendency to treat comments on the draft EIS

more formally with direct responses in the EIS. In others, scoping comments were

recorded and directly incorporated into comments on the draft EIS for response.

General consensus among respondents was that all public comments on the

draft EIS warrant at least some response from the agency, even those that are

outside the scope of the project or merely voice a preference. All respondents

voiced frustration with public perceptions that public comments should be treated

like votes for specific alternatives.

It’s usually easier to just go ahead and answer it than decide it’s not worth

answering or something. Because it’s easy enough to answer it, and then

you’re done.

Q: “What do you do with comments that are purely just public preference

comments? That are just like, we vote for alternative 7?”

A: “We put them all together and say, ‘The following comments essentially are

all expression of a preference for alternative 7; no response is required.’ ”

Although USACE guidance is unique in that it specifically notes public values

as valuable information in agency decisionmaking, we did not find any cases in

which these data were actually employed in official analyses (see “Analyses” section

for a discussion of how they might be). Public preferences rather influenced agency

decisionmaking either through normative pressures brought on through the fear of

appeals and litigation or through personal sympathies internalized by NEPA

implementers.

Centralized vs. decentralized comment coding—

In some cases, a centralized team coded public comments. In others, a small group

of ID team members (usually two to three) took on this task. The primary goal of

comment coding was to draw out the main points of each public letter or statement

and group them into a few coherent comments to which the agency could provide

an official response. In each case, ID team members, and occasionally other subject

matter experts, would respond to the coded comments. Although in some cases
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

centralizing this process was viewed as efficient, it caused problems in others. In

one case, the ID team leader suggested a lack of context-specific knowledge led to

inappropriate coding that had to be repeated. In addition to the time and money

spent on dual coding, the ID team leader felt that the rushed re-coding of the data

probably made it difficult for the public to identify and find responses to their

comments.

They [the centralized team] would read a letter and classify it as something

that was just incomprehensible to us. So we had to, I’m not sure we were

able to go back and re-classify all of them... the classification and the

categorization was very, was poorly done.

The timing of centralized processes also raises the question of whether comments are receiving full consideration in the development of alternatives and

analyses. As centralized coding generally takes place after the release of the draft

EIS and remotely from the ID team, public comments are often not fully considered until very late in the process. This may have an effect on their influence in the

actual work that goes into the analyses.

Impacts of litigation and appeals—

Some respondents felt that their efforts to improve public involvement were futile.

Just as the public would accuse agencies of being “pre-decisional,” some agency

personnel felt the same way about some of the most common litigants of their

agencies. Many respondents expressed the opinion that most of the public tends to

be indifferent or mildly supportive of proposed agency management actions. Other

groups are “pre-decisional.”

They’ve already made that decision that there’s nothing you can say to us

that is going to get us to support what you want to do. I mean, it’s so tight,

it’s so minuscule where they’re willing to let us work, that to them, they

would much rather have the fight. It’s the way that they, it’s where they

gain their profits, it’s how they’re funded.

The people that are going to oppose it are going to oppose it no matter

what we say at these public meetings.

Although not all interviewees agreed, some Forest Service respondents blamed

the appeals process for limiting motivation for the public and special interest

groups to participate in the NEPA process.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Why should I invest time and energy and effort in that if I’m going to have

players that come in afterwards that have this veto power on a decision I

make, a decision that I’ve made with a community of interest? And so I get

frustrated with that, and I think many of my peers would echo that. It’s

just, you know, now let’s do collaboration, but if somebody sits on the

outside and watches and doesn’t want to participate, or they sit at the table

and don’t get their way, then they’ve got this appeal litigation avenue.

I think that the wrench in collaboration is the ability for a 39-cent stamp to

appeal outside the process.

Respondents from other agencies felt similarly about much of the litigation they faced. The lack of clear thresholds to establish standing for litigants,

such as an earnest effort to participate in the process, likely contributes to this

phenomenon.

Public involvement summary—

Although all agency personnel we interviewed felt that informing the public was a

key element of the NEPA process, not all agreed on the extent to which the public

should be involved in the process or the methods for their involvement. Some common themes, however, did emerge. Informal proactive involvement with key constituencies separate from each other was consistently viewed in a positive light by

respondents. This involvement could take the form of site visits, informal meetings,

or open houses. The reported benefits to such techniques involved limiting interconstituency conflict, enhancing meaningful two-way exchanges of ideas between

the agencies and constituencies, enhancing trust in the agency, enhancing public

perceptions that their comments are actually being considered, and increasing the

quality of information obtained from the public.

Respondents did not detail techniques for bringing together separate constituencies following separate meetings. None of the personnel we interviewed discussed

managing the relationships between stakeholders as a component of these informal

techniques. Rather, early informal interactions with separate groups were primarily

viewed as a way to avoid strong negative reactions of those particular constituencies

to subsequent steps of the NEPA process.

Working with the public informally early on in the project. Knowing the

people who care, and it’s usually a small group, it’s not everybody on the

1,000-name mailing list...I’m talking about the people that really care

about our decisions. Working with them up front and getting their opinion,

Informal proactive

involvement with

key constituencies

separate from each

other was consistently viewed in a

positive light.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

their ideas, and listening and incorporating those into your proposed action, before you really even go out to the streets with the scoping letter.

Man, I’ve seen that just pay off in spades time and time again, because then

you’re getting that buy-in. They see that you’re listening, and you get some

good ideas too. And it doesn’t take that much time. I mean, it’s a day out

in the field or something, or a meeting, and away you go. And you get a lot

of support that way... that’s probably the single best thing I’ve seen time

and time again, no matter where you are.

Responsiveness to comments was viewed as important across the board, even

with regard to comments not considered substantive. Respondents viewed strategies

regarding collaborative processes, openly sharing all internal analyses and alternatives, and centralized versus decentralized comment coding in variable lights.

Writing the EIS

Audience and purpose of the NEPA document—

Questions posed to agency personnel regarding the intended audience and purpose

of the EIS often befuddled respondents. Reported audiences included the public,

internal agency personnel, the decisionmaker, the courts, and NEPA scholars.11

Other responses indicated that a specific audience was not actually considered in the

production of the document. Purposes most commonly included disclosure to the

public, defensibility in court, and a reference for future management activities. Our

interviews revealed that few respondents explicitly considered making a better

decision as a specific purpose of NEPA documents.

Q: “Did you write it with any particular audience in mind?”

A: “... I wanted to write it for the lay person, but then when you’re done with

all the NEPA requirements you’re not writing it for the lay person, you’re

writing it for the NEPA scholar or the NEPA compliance specialist. So it’s

really difficult.”

We’re not writing EAs for the public, we’re writing EAs for the 9th Circuit

[Court].

11 Similar categories were found in a 1985 study of timber sale EAs in the Forest Service

(Carbone 1985), which also revealed other agencies as audiences. The Forest Service’s

national NEPA training course (Forest Plan Implementation Course 1900-01) stresses a

two-part audience: the public and the responsible official (decisionmaker).

Questions posed to

agency personnel

regarding the intended audience

and purpose of the

EIS often befuddled

respondents.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Making sure that the public understands is one of our prime objectives [in

writing NEPA documents].

The driving force was certainly at some point you know, it was just to get

it done... it becomes just simply grunt work at some point... so there’s less

time and desire, especially with all the other competing issues that people

face in their roles... to look at something like this globally and try to figure

out how to make it more useable.

I don’t know that the document itself has that much use. I think the process

has a lot more use than the actual finished product. This [the EIS] is

probably going to be very useful to lawyers more than anybody else, and

people like you [the interviewer]... or students who study the whole thing.

It [the EIS] has some information... that’s not available anywhere else. So

if people want to find out about, you know, the issue, this is probably the

only thing out there. But other than that, it’s of very little use.

You can take a document, a decision document like a decision memo or

FONSI and you can lay that out and give it to the people that’s going to

implement the project on the ground and let them read that, along with any

other associated things, and that’s the way you’d get the project done in the

correct manner.

Some respondents specifically noted the challenges of writing for both the

decisionmaker and the public while at the same time attempting to bulletproof the

document against legal actions.

My touchstone for this is, is this information the decisionmaker needs? And

if it’s information the decisionmaker needs, it shouldn’t be in the supporting record, it shouldn’t be an appendix, it should be in the text. But if it’s

not, then I’m just as fiercely saying it shouldn’t be in the text, not just it

doesn’t need to be, it shouldn’t be there, because it dilutes the message that

the analysis is supposed to present. And so if we look at this in terms of

well, what does the public need to know to understand our decision, it is

hard to know what can be taken out. If you look at it in terms of what does

the decisionmaker need to know in order to make a good decision, then I

find it a lot easier when I’m trying to put together a document.

This respondent went on to discuss how the EIS is typically littered with

information the decisionmaker does not need as well as information the public

cannot understand in order to make it as legally defensible as possible.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

It does certainly create an unfocused document that’s sort of hard to follow

how you get from the beginning of your process to how you get to the end.

Only one decisionmaker we interviewed reported actually reading an entire EIS

cover-to-cover. Although we did not ask the question of all decisionmakers, the

most common sections read by the decisionmakers we did ask included the purpose

and need, summaries of environmental impacts, summaries of alternatives, details

on the preferred alternative, and biological opinions. These findings suggest that

much of the information contained within EISs is unnecessary for the

decisionmaker.

For their general management plans and other programmatic EISs, the NPS

produces a separate document for sharing with the public and staff.

Q: “What’s the utility of an EIS? What’s the intended audience, what’s it

supposed to do?”

A: “Well, I think it’s supposed to inform. But unfortunately, I think that we

write them, their density is predominantly to serve the court as opposed to the

public. Because the thicker and more obtuse they become, the less they inform.

You know, what we’ve gone to in recent years is we do the full EIS and then we

do a presentation GMP [general management plan], which is a boiled-down,

much more glossy, much more simple version, than goes to the public as the

final. That’s what it ought to be, where we ought to start, instead of this, you

know, the full-blown, you know, monster document. But the reason that they’re

so dense with so much information is I think, is driven by the courts.”

One respondent from the Forest Service suggested that the ROD is the only

useful NEPA document, as it can be used by staff to guide implementation. A

respondent from the BLM noted that the ROD and the decision memo are often

more concise and useful tools for the public, and that the public tends to focus on

those documents to the exclusion of the lengthier and more difficult to understand

EIS.

Writing environmental impact statements—

Personnel within each agency described different processes for completing NEPA

documents. The products themselves also differed not only in content and style, but

also in overall format. The USACE proved unique in their EIS format.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

We don’t do separate EISs anymore. This is an integrated project implementation report and EIS. And the NEPA chapters, the chapters that

fulfill the content requirements of NEPA, are marked with an asterisk in

the table of contents... We think it leads to a better report, because what

happened under the old system is that you could have a feasibility report

that didn’t say the same thing as the EIS, and sooner or later we had to

make those two match up. And that can be pretty embarrassing.

Agency processes for actually writing the document differed greatly. The

relationship between project planning and congressional approval again sets the

USACE apart from other agencies somewhat in this respect.

It makes for hurried writing. It makes for a lot of good-enough-forgovernment work because we have—if we don’t get it out in time it

doesn’t matter how well written it is... If you take too long to write the

report and the Congressman doesn’t get a quick answer, he’s not going to

wait around. He’s going to fund something else that’s not nearly as well

described.

This feeling of pressure has led the USACE to, on occasion, circulate incomplete draft EISs in order to meet deadlines imposed by long comment periods.

These draft EISs occasionally do not completely describe the impacts of all alternatives, rather reporting merely on the most likely alternative and the worst-case

scenario. No direct litigation was reported as a result of this, suggesting that the

political and public systems within which the USACE operates are rather different

than the other agencies under study.

Somewhat less variation existed between the other agencies in how EISs are

produced. In both the Park Service and the Forest Service, the ID team leader most

commonly would coordinate the writing of the EIS. In each case, subject matter

experts were encouraged to write specific sections of the report given explicit

instructions from the ID team leader regarding format and indicators. In each

agency, however, subject matter experts were at times too busy to actually draft

their sections. In some cases, they did not possess the adequate writing skills. In

these cases, the ID team leader or another team member would draft the section,

and then send it to the subject matter expert for review.

They read it and change it and make it theirs, and we tell them, “this is just

an idea, here’s a format, now you make it yours.” It kind of gives you a

skeleton and some beef to the skeleton, but you change the beef to make it

right and everything.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Some respondents reported starting with an existing EIS and changing it as

necessary. This proved easier in cases where indicators were relatively simplistic,

involving simple tables of quantitative measures. In cases in which more qualitative

text was necessary for describing potential impacts, this proved a more challenging

exercise.

In two of our NPS case studies, some sections of EISs, especially the “Affected

Environment,” would be “cobbled together” from other plans, then sent out to subject matter experts for their review. The “Environmental Consequences” sections

were mostly written by subject matter experts based on a template developed by the

ID team leader. When people could not complete their assignments on time, the ID

team leader would write the section and send it out for comment.

On one NPS project, separate sections, and even separate paragraphs within the

same section, were written by different experts. Each section fit into a specific

boilerplate developed by the ID team leader and other managers from other EISs.

The EIS was managed on a central server and was eventually compiled into a more

coherent document by a contractor. This technique led to a very large EIS (493

pages with over 200 pages of appendices) with tremendous amounts of redundancy

and a perception by the ID team leader that the document was very difficult to

navigate for anyone who attempted to read it.

Some ID team leaders reported that they did not want their regional NEPA

coordinators to know about the use of this boilerplate style of EIS production,

or of the technique of drafting sections outside their own area of subject matter

expertise. One regional NEPA coordinator suggested, “I think part of this cut and

paste and use boilerplate, if there’s a fault in some of the products that we produce,

that will be a common denominator.” Another, however, thought that the use of a

more standardized fill-in-the-blanks format could only help to make the process

less confusing.

The BLM also used boilerplate approaches to their EISs. Some processes used

an electronic tracking system to shepherd documents through the writing process.

The ID team would designate a specific order in which subject matter experts

would review and add their sections to the EIS. This particular process reportedly

limited collaboration and created difficulty with addressing cumulative impacts.

Again, a sense of guilt was associated with the use of boilerplate. In one case, the

BLM designated one team member as the dedicated staff writer and had some

success with regard to efficiency (see “Division of Labor” section).

Contractors were used in the writing process in each agency. In the USACE,

they sometimes wrote the entire EIS. In other cases, they were hired as editors or
68

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

compilers of separate sections. In the other agencies, they more commonly served

to deal with one specific topic within an EIS or worked to compile the overall

document. On one Forest Service EIS, a contractor was hired to simplify the

“scientific gobbledygook” into more lay terms and to make the sections more

consistent with each other. In the Park Service, consultants were hired to ensure

that documents complied fully with NEPA requirements, to edit documents, and to

weave together disparate sections of reports.

Most respondents lamented the length of their documents and their relative

inaccessibility to the public. A USACE respondent noted,

Just meeting that general guideline of an EIS should be no more than 150

pages long—we violate that with every—almost every document we

produce. And I don’t know how to get us back to it. Maybe it’s not a

realistic expectation. You know, we keep getting more and more content

requirements loaded on us by our own layers of reviewers, and by

environmental groups interested in what we do, so maybe it’s not a realistic

expectation.

Most other respondents blamed the courts for large and indigestible documents.

Writing summary—

Audience—

Intended audiences for EISs included the public, decisionmakers, other agency

personnel, the courts, and NEPA scholars. Most respondents acknowledged that

EISs and other NEPA documents are not ideal communication tools regardless of

the audience. Meanwhile, some respondents clearly had not given much thought to

who the potential readers of these documents might be, rather just focusing upon

meeting all requirements as efficiently as possible. This may contribute directly to

their ineffectiveness for communicating outside the courts.

Purpose—

Most respondents clearly viewed the EIS as a legal tool that could protect them

against legal and other challenges. Others merely saw it as a requirement without

putting a great deal of thought into its intended purpose. Still others saw the EIS as

a tool for decisionmakers, even though only one decisionmaker in our study actually

reported reading an EIS in its entirety. Lastly, the EIS was seen as a repository of

potentially useful information for future projects or documents. Addressing and

prioritizing these purposes more explicitly might help agencies to make the documents more useful.

Most respondents

acknowledged that

EISs and other NEPA

documents are not

ideal communication

tools regardless of

the audience.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Boilerplate—

Most respondents reported using some form of boilerplate technique for laying out

their EISs. They also reported borrowing both text and layout from pre-existing

EISs or other planning documents and editing as necessary. Although some were

concerned that this could limit the scope of analysis unnecessarily, one could also

envision the use of boilerplates to unduly broaden the scope of analysis in order to

fill out superfluous sections that might not be relevant to the project at hand. Most

respondents felt the use of some form of boilerplate necessary to be able to complete the process in a more timely fashion.

Process—

At times, ID team leaders found themselves in a position of having to write most of

these documents themselves, or with a core team of just a few people. The unavailability of subject matter experts to draft their own sections was sometimes perceived

to weaken the analyses and the utility of the documents (although no one suggested

this made the documents more vulnerable to legal challenges). Having ID team

leaders draft sections outside their own areas of expertise could also potentially

contribute to either the conscious or subconscious introduction of additional biases

into such analyses. One strength of the interdisciplinary team is to ensure that

multiple viewpoints and fields of expertise inform better decisions. As analyses are

constrained by the understandings and viewpoints of one person, they may limit the

decision space of the decisionmaker. Even though the information may be correct or

adequate, as checked by the subject matter expert, the potential impact of the

approach to the analysis might be overlooked in these situations.

Decisionmaking

Incremental decisions throughout NEPA processes—

All agencies have likely been accused of being pre-decisional by some constituencies in their NEPA processes. In the processes in which our respondents were

involved, we found that the final decision was often clear long before the development of the draft EIS (table 7). In other processes, a final decision was unclear until

public comment had been received. Even in cases in which the final decision was

clear from the beginning, respondents reported that the details of those decisions

typically remained flexible until the very end of the process.

Q: “At what point in the NEPA process do you typically know what the preferred alternative’s going to be?”

A: “In the olden days, it was the first thing.”

Most respondents

reported using

some form of

boilerplate technique for laying out

their EISs.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Accusations of pre-decisionality are usually coupled with accusations of

disingenuous public involvement (Stern 2006). Although the act implies that the

final decision should not be made until the very end of the NEPA process, agency

personnel cited their professional training and experience in explaining why the

most appropriate decision was often clear long before the end of the process, and

often before public involvement. This calls into question the utility of many aspects

of the NEPA process in the actual practices of agency decisionmakers.

I need a lot less information than I know the public does, but that comes

from familiarity with the resources, the ground, going out on the project,

being at the meetings, doing the knowledge gathering early on... that’s

honestly where my comfort zone comes from, that’s, if I’m standing in the

spot on the ground and I can look at the resources, and I can tell what’s in

writing, even if it’s minimal, so far, is on the right track in terms of what

we should be doing there and what the effects of doing that are going to

be, my comfort zone just increases exponentially and I need a lot less

information each successive time. So then it’s about... do I really need 150

to 200 pages? No, I don’t, if I know the ground.

The USACE decisionmaking process avoids some of the ambiguity faced by

decisionmakers in other agencies, drawing upon its “Digest of Water Resources

Policies and Authorities” (EP 1165-2-1, 30 July 1999) to provide metrics for

decisionmaking that call for the least costly environmentally effective plan to be

chosen. As such, cost-benefit analyses are used in the alternatives development stage

to eliminate any alternatives that would not meet these criteria. This can produce an

Table 7—Responses regarding when final decision is apparenta

Point in process when final decision becomes clear FS NPS BLM

Following development of purpose and need 1

During or immediately following alternatives development 1 2 1

Immediately following interagency coordination, before DEIS 1

Part way through the environmental analysis 1

While drafting the DEIS 1 1

Following public comment on DEIS 2 2 2

Note: FS = Forest Service, NPS = National Park Service, BLM = Bureau of Land Management,

DEIS = draft environmental impact statement.

a

 These figures do not reflect a representative sample of any agency.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

alternatives list with less variation than commonly witnessed in the alternatives of

other agencies. In the EISs we reviewed, alternatives tended to differ more in

technical details than in overall strategies, limiting the general direction a project

might take prior to the official decisionmaking stage.

How are decisionmakers using NEPA processes?—

Rather than focusing on whether an agency is pre-decisional, we feel the results

shared in table 7 say much more about the impact of the NEPA process upon

improving decisionmaking. In some cases, the NEPA process appeared to have little

impact upon decisions—the selection of preferred alternative could be made very

early in the process. In other cases, decisionmaking was less certain, and withheld

until the end of the process. We asked respondents about what NEPA processes

actually contribute to their decisions. Their responses constitute three premises:

1. The NEPA process is the decisionmaking process. A decision actually gets made

as a direct result of defining a purpose and need, identifying alternatives,

analyzing the affected environment and likely impacts upon it, and consulting

with other agencies and the public along the way.

2. The NEPA process can support the decisionmaking process, but it is not the

process itself. NEPA serves to ensure a rigorous analysis and reveal information

that might otherwise not have been available. This information is then taken

into account in the decisionmaking process.

3. The NEPA process has little to no bearing on actual decisions. Under this

hypothesis, the process is reduced to a purely procedural exercise.

Premise one: The NEPA process is the decisionmaking process—

Respondents from only two agencies, the Forest Service and the BLM, felt that the

NEPA process actually was one and the same with the decisionmaking process.

I’ve always considered it a decisionmaking process. I mean, in terms of

being the ultimate product that you make is a decision based on all the

analysis in this process. So I guess, I guess, yeah, I still think of it as a

decisionmaking process.

It’s a decisionmaking process... I think it’s very eloquent, it’s good public

policy, it’s the right thing to be doing, it’s all these other things. And we

use it as a decisionmaking, I use it as a decisionmaking process. I want to

know what those effects are. I want to know what the public said before I

make a decision. And NEPA is a good process to do that.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

It is definitely a decisionmaking process. To me, it’s actually a pretty

rational decisionmaking process in that it causes you, if you do it right, I

think, to actually define a problem and people laugh when I say that, but a

lot of times we define solutions and then we go out and look for a problem

to apply them to. And it tells you to consider robust alternatives. It tells

you to get the consent of the governed, and it tells you to make a reasoned

and rational choice.

Premise two: the NEPA process can support the decisionmaking process, but it is

not the process itself—

The primary mechanism through which respondents felt NEPA contributes to

decisionmaking is through disclosure requirements. This includes disclosure both to

the public and also internally within an agency. One respondent explained, “I don’t

think on day one, if I had gone to the senior staff and said, this is what we should

do, they would have said OK.” The respondent continued to explain that the process

helped to make clear to the rest of the agency what was clear to him on day one.

A: “It certainly helps you make a decision. It questions your decision inasmuch

as if all the effects that you’re disclosing are negative for your decision and

they’re positive for other things, then it would force you to reconsider or at

least come up front and say, well but, in spite of that, this is the decision and

that’s why.”

Q: “So it’s just informative.”

A: “Right. And it helps you. It helps you by forcing you to disclose the environmental consequences or facts. You can’t be blindsided, I don’t think, or you

shouldn’t be. It reduces the chances because you’ve already spelled out all the

consequences.”

Premise three: the NEPA process has little to no bearing on actual decisions—

Some respondents clearly expressed that the NEPA process had very little to do with

decisionmaking within their agencies. When asked about NEPA’s role in the

decisionmaking process, one respondent replied:

It’s necessary but not sufficient. It’s necessary because no federal agency

will propose congressional funding of a project that hasn’t been vetted with

the public and with potential sponsors of course... It’s not the decision

process.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Some respondents echoed the sentiment that NEPA adds more work that is

often irrelevant to decisionmaking. Others suggested that the best decisions are

often so obvious to decisionmakers that the NEPA process is actually irrelevant to

decisionmaking.

And I think the decision was made beforehand that we’re going to close

them and that was it. Even though we got lots of people saying we need to

keep it open because they liked to drive it . . . so sometimes you get predecisional.

These sentiments were unearthed in all agencies.

Q: “What makes a good ROD?”

A: “Well, you want to explain what the project is, and I think the main thing is

the rationale for the decision. You want to make a decision; then you want to

say why you made this decision. You know, why was this decision selected over

the other alternatives? Rationale to me is the main thing. If you have good

rationale, that’s good. And a lot of times you can put your own rationale in it

without even tiering back into this right here (holds up EIS).”

Q: “So, what’s an example of that? If the rationale isn’t necessarily based on

the EIS, what else could it be based on?”

A: “Based on personal experience . . .”

Q: “So in cases like that, the EIS just becomes a hoop you have to jump

through, it’s not really useful in the end, if you’re already like, ‘I know that this

is how it works, I’ve been here 18 years.’”

A: “Right, exactly, yeah. Yeah. Well that’s, sometimes that is right. Sometimes

you’re just doing a document to support what you think is right anyway.”

Has NEPA influenced environmentally appropriate decisions?—

The explanatory power of each of the above premises differs by circumstance.

Future research could reveal under which conditions each premise tends to hold

true. This would be useful for determining the situations in which NEPA serves its

intended purposes versus those in which it generally does not. Relevant circumstances might include mission of the agency, the general procedures in place within

any specific unit in which a project is being considered, the social and political

context of the area, and the experience, attitudes, and beliefs of the individuals

involved in the project.

Some respondents

echoed the sentiment that NEPA adds

more work that is

often irrelevant to

decisionmaking.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

We do this analysis for a purpose. We learn things. And if it’s a good

process, and you’ve really developed a good range of alternatives, you

should expect some surprises.

NEPA is really just a label for the planning and analysis that I think goes

on anyway. But what it does if that’s the case is imposes more rigor or

process to the determination. But I don’t, in my experience, I haven’t seen

any big initiatives that willy-nilly were decided by the manager.

Decisionmaker role in the NEPA process—

Our interviews with ID team leaders and decisionmakers revealed a number of ways

in which decisionmakers can be involved in NEPA processes, ranging from active

participation in most aspects of the work undertaken by the ID team to providing

occasional feedback on updates received through intermediary staff.

The level of involvement differed within agencies and also between them. The

NPS had one of the most decentralized decisionmaking processes. Decisions were

generally made at the level of the superintendent or other management staff. The

official “decisionmaker,” the regional director who signed the ROD, was only

peripherally involved in such processes. The decisionmaker would receive updates

on projects through the regional NEPA coordinator, and occasionally provide

feedback. The RODs were written by park staff and reviewed by the decisionmaker

along with the executive summary.

In the USACE, technical experts typically make most decisions throughout the

development of a project. The final decisionmakers are actually members of

Congress for most Corps projects. The civilian NEPA coordinator is in charge of

coordinating NEPA documents, but a high-ranking Army officer signs off. The

officer is typically involved in public involvement processes, but rarely exerts

meaningful influence on the details of project development.

The role of the decisionmaker varied within our Forest Service case studies.

One decisionmaker held occasional meetings with ID teams, but stayed largely

separate from the project until the end. Another was intimately involved in all

aspects of the project, more or less guiding the ID team through the entire process.

Yet another helped to formulate alternatives, then stepped back so as not to bias any

analyses.

Decisionmakers also reported playing several roles within the BLM. In several

cases, the decisionmaker waited until the end of the process to closely examine the

ID team’s preparation of the EIS and alternatives, but in one the decisionmaker was

an active participant in how the project was shaped.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

We uncovered varying influences of decisionmakers upon the NEPA process.

One ID team leader explained that the decisionmaker can sometimes limit the

scope of alternatives that may have otherwise been considered if following only

NEPA guidance. In other cases, there was concern that the ID teams were using

decisionmaker input to attempt to create the “perfect” or “silver bullet” alternative

for the decisionmaker at the expense of fully fleshing out all options (see “Alternatives Development” section). Overall, our interviews suggested that ID team

members felt better about the products they produced when there was greater

involvement of the decisionmaker during the process.

How do the findings differ among agencies?—

Few of the trends discussed above were unique to any one agency. Table 8 provides

a breakdown of the agencies in which certain themes emerged in our interviews.

Research interests of respondents—

As this study was designed to explore perceptions of NEPA and to better understand

which paths of future inquiry might be beneficial to the agencies, we asked each

respondent about what they would most like to research about NEPA processes.

Table 9 contains a summary of their responses. The responses varied widely, both

within and across agencies, suggesting a considerable range of potential future

research questions.

Table 8—Comparing trends in decisionmaking across agency respondentsa

Decisionmaking trends FS NPS BLM ACE

Decision apparent before process in full swing. NEPA is purely procedural. x x x x

Disclosure forces more careful consideration of certain aspects than might

otherwise take place. x x x

Helps build consensus for a decision (both internally and externally), even

though decision may be clear at outset. x

Just a label for things that happen anyway, no real value added to

decisionmaking process. x x

Decision made for reasons completely separate from NEPA process

(usually political reasons). x x

NEPA process can play a large role in improving decisions. x x x

Official decisionmaker removed from most aspects of NEPA process. x x x x

Official decisionmaker actively engaged in most aspects of NEPA process. x x

Note: FS = Forest Service, NPS = National Park Service, BLM = Bureau of Land Management, ACE = Army Corps of Engineers,

NEPA = National Environmental Policy Act.

a

 Not a representative sample of any agency.

Overall, our interviews suggested

that ID team members felt better

about the products

they produced when

there was greater

involvement of the

decisionmaker

during the process.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Table 9—Agency personnel’s research interests regarding NEPA processesa

FS NPS BLM ACE Total

Research interest (8) (6) (9) (2) (25) Percentage

What public involvement techniques are the most 3 4 0 0 7 28

effective? Alternatives to current strategies.

Differential understandings of NEPA—the public’s 3 2 1 0 6 24

view of the NEPA process vs. internal agencies’

views of the process vs. actual intent?

Commonalities in successful vs. unsuccessful projects 2 1 1 1 5 20

Organizational structures—Who does the work?

Centralized vs. decentralized? How are teams formed? 2 2 1 0 5 20

What are the relative efficiencies of different arrangements?

How to streamline the process without sacrificing the 2 2 1 0 5 20

quality of the decision.

What difference does NEPA actually make in the 1 2 0 1 4 16

decisionmaking process? In other words, how is

NEPA used in the decision process? How does it

really intersect with how decisions are made?

Litigation—Who is filing NEPA-related suits and why? 1 1 2 0 4 16

What have the outcomes been and what is their significance?

Interagency coordination 2 0 1 0 3 12

Techniques for coming up with Purpose and Need and 1 1 1 0 3 12

associated objectives

Cumulative effects—What is reasonable data collection for 1 0 0 2 3 12

past events and foreseeable future?

Incremental decisions throughout the NEPA process— how 1 1002 8

do they affect final decision? When are decision points?

Which decisions are critical? How does the order of events

influence outcomes?

How scope is defined/ how are boundaries placed on studies 0 1012 8

in different agencies?

How does FS appeals process impact implementation? 1 1002 8

Developing/applying clearer criteria or thresholds for 1 1002 8

evaluating alternatives.

How to generate better baseline data. 1 1002 8

Differing views and processes associated with environ- 0 0112 8

mental justice across agencies.

Disentangling (separating) NEPA from the decisionmaking 1 0001 4

process.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Discussion

The key lessons that have emerged from this study are discussed in four sections.

The first section discusses practices that were consistently viewed in a positive light

by all respondents who were aware of them. The second section shares lessons

regarding practices whose value was debatable according to different respondents.

These first two sections highlight practices that might be worth implementing on

trial bases as well as issues that may warrant further investigation. The third section

highlights common inefficiencies or challenges in NEPA processes found in each of

the agencies. The fourth section discusses key questions that have emerged from the

research that remain unresolved. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of

the role that science can play in moving toward the resolution of these unknowns.

The results here are not presented as representative of the agencies, but rather

serve as insights into the understanding and implementation of NEPA by specific

personnel in their development of selected EIS projects. We share these themes to

highlight areas for future consideration for NEPA implementers, policymakers, and

researchers, as they represent some of the most salient topics on the minds of the

participants in this study.

Practices Viewed as Positive

Certain practices were consistently described positively by respondents who had

been exposed to them. These practices related to the structure of ID teams and to

specific techniques for public involvement. Because these practices only emerged in

Table 9—Agency personnel’s research interests regarding NEPA processesa (continued)

FS NPS BLM ACE Total

Research interest (8) (6) (9) (2) (25) Percentage

Impacts of political decisions on the NEPA process and 0 1 0 0 1 4

decisionmaking.

How to improve training. 0 0 0 1 1 4

Internal agency views and opinions about public

involvement processes. 0 0 0 1 1 4

Relationship between NEPA and ESA. 1 0 0 0 1 4

How do budgets come about for compliance? 0 1 0 0 1 4

Making documents more readable. 0 1 0 0 1 4

Note: FS = Forest Service, NPS = National Park Service, BLM = Bureau of Land Management, ACE = Army Corps of Engineers,

NEPA = National Environmental Policy Act, ESA = Endangered Species Act.

a

 These figures do not reflect a representative sample of any agency.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

some of our interviews, we were unable to solicit the opinions of all respondents

regarding them. However, they received unanimous support from those we did ask.

Dedicated ID team—

In one of our case studies in the BLM, the ID team was relieved of all duties aside

from working on the NEPA process. This was described as a positive experience

that expedited the process considerably and reduced stress commonly associated

with fitting NEPA work in with other duties. Although budgets were commonly

cited as a hurdle to overcome to make this happen, other respondents also endorsed

this idea.

Dedicated staff writer—

Compilers of NEPA documents often found themselves challenged with having to

integrate sections written by multiple people. Moreover, subject matter experts

would commonly miss deadlines, often forcing ID team leaders to draft sections

outside of their own area(s) of expertise. One project in the BLM had a dedicated

staff writer assigned the task of doing all the writing for the EIS. This person was

in charge of communicating with subject matter experts and the ID team leader to

put together a coherent document. Participants in this project felt this worked well

by making the document more readable and streamlining the process. It also took

pressure off of subject matter experts, freeing them up for other tasks. Other

respondents looked favorably upon the idea as well.

Fish and Wildlife Service personnel on ID team—

Coordination with the Fish and Wildlife Service was commonly cited as the most

difficult interagency relationship to manage in NEPA processes. One of our BLM

case studies experimented with having an FWS employee on the ID team and found

this extremely helpful in heading off potential conflicts and addressing issues

associated with threatened and endangered species prior to the official issuance of

the biological opinion from FWS. The USACE respondents reported that the colocation of an FWS staff member in their regional office helped to streamline their

processes considerably. Other respondents also reacted positively to this possibility.

Informal and early public involvement—

In general, informal proactive involvement with key constituencies, in separate

groups, was consistently highly valued by respondents. This involvement could take

the form of site visits, informal meetings, or open houses during the official NEPA

process, but was even more highly valued prior to the release of the notice of intent.

Reported benefits of such techniques included limiting inter-constituency conflict,

Informal proactive

involvement with

key constituencies,

in separate groups,

was consistently

highly valued by

respondents.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

enhancing meaningful two-way exchanges of ideas between the agencies and

constituencies, enhancing trust in the agency, enhancing public perceptions that

public comments are actually being considered, engendering public acceptance of

project implementation, and increasing the usability of public input.

Practices About Which Opinions Diverged

Other practices received less consistent reviews from our interviewees. These

themes represent areas for potential future investigation.

Centralized versus decentralized practices—

Variable degrees of success were noted with regard to the centralization of certain

functions. Drawing upon central offices for specific subject matter expertise and to

staff ID teams was generally seen as a positive. Meanwhile, relying upon centralized

teams to code public comments occasionally caused problems owing to a lack of

sensitivity to local context and familiarity with the subject matter of the project.

The use of contractors—

Contractors were generally seen to be most useful when charged with a discrete

analytical task, such as water quality testing or trail mapping. Opinions of contractors in other roles varied. For example, although contractors were often hired to be

“neutral” or “objective” facilitators in public involvement efforts, agency personnel

commonly reported that this only sometimes made public involvement run more

smoothly. Common drawbacks to using contractors included high costs, misunderstandings or disagreements with agency staff, steep learning curves for complicated

issues, lack of subject matter expertise, and difficulties with contract management.

Writing the EIS—

A number of issues were raised with regard to how EISs actually get written. Most

respondents reported using some sort of boilerplate for laying out the EIS. Although this was a dominant practice within our sample, many expressed guilt over

employing it. The NEPA coordinators also believed this to be problematic in some

cases, allowing for a false sense of security in such standardization. Interdisciplinary

team leaders at times found themselves in the position of having to write most

sections of the EIS. This was primarily because of limited time available among

subject matter experts. The ID team leads would then send their drafts out to subject

matter experts asking for comments and revisions. Although the impacts of this

practice on the quality of the analyses could not be assessed in this study, the

potential is there for introducing considerable bias.

Contractors were

generally seen to

be most useful when

charged with a discrete analytical task.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Alternatives development—

The ID teams struggled to meet the needs of the decisionmaker. Whereas some

strove to create “the perfect alternative,” thus narrowing the decisionmaking space,

others aimed to provide the widest range of alternatives possible. The

decisionmakers we interviewed preferred the latter, but often remained distant from

the work of ID teams, owing to other tasks as well as fears of inappropriately

biasing the process. Meanwhile, the ID team leaders we interviewed craved greater

involvement of the decisionmaker throughout the process.

Thresholds—

Some respondents desired clearer thresholds for alternatives development and

decisionmaking. The USACE and NPS actually have versions of such thresholds.

The USACE often sets clear quantitative targets in their objectives prior to beginning a NEPA process to help them eliminate alternatives. They also have somewhat

clearer guidance with regard to selecting which alternative is most appropriate (see

“Decisionmaking” section for greater detail). In the NPS, the term “impairment,”

taken from their mission statement, is distinguished from impacts. Impacts may be

acceptable; impairment is not. Individual project managers can determine how to

distinguish impacts from impairment. Political issues arise, however, when the noaction alternative can be viewed as impairment, because it could implicate the

superintendent in mismanagement. Thus, this threshold is not employed to its fullest

potential. Similar thresholds, however, might be considered by other agencies for

developing, eliminating, or selecting alternatives.

Alternatives to alternatives development—

Some have suggested that the development of discrete alternatives can be inherently

polarizing and counterproductive to efforts to improve relationships with the public,

as process participants tend to invest in and staunchly defend one particular alternative, rather than considering the broader interests of multiple stakeholders.12 We

asked respondents about the possibility of developing a single collaborative recommendation for the decisionmaker in lieu of a list of alternatives. The idea was

favored by some for programmatic EISs, in which alternatives often feel rather

contrived and meaningless, but generally not favored at the project level.

12 See Innes and Booher (2004) for a fuller treatment of this theme.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Common Inefficiencies in NEPA Processes

The research revealed numerous issues that likely contribute to inefficiencies and

confusion in complying with NEPA. Our interviews revealed wide disparities both

across and within agencies regarding individuals’ perceptions of the purpose of

NEPA and how to define successful NEPA processes. Results from our limited

sample suggest that no consensus on NEPA’s purpose or on indicators of success

exists in any of the agencies. This raises the question, how can success be achieved

if it cannot be defined? Without a shared vision about what NEPA processes are

supposed to accomplish, agency personnel are left to follow their own visions,

which clearly differ from place to place and project to project.

Similarly, responses differed widely with regard to the intended audiences for

the EIS. In some cases, it was clear that ID teams had not explicitly considered the

audience for the document. Without a clear purpose or audience in mind, these

documents can sometimes serve little purpose other than to document compliance

with the act. This seems a rather limited scope for the hundreds of pages produced,

hundreds of thousands of dollars spent, and the tremendous amount of staff time

and other resources committed to their production. Although NEPA documents are

supposed to provide disclosure to the public, no respondent in the study actually

believed them to be effective communication tools for this audience.

Litigation, both actual and threatened, permeates all aspects of NEPA implementation. Active public dissent and outcry also affect how NEPA is utilized.

Although neither is necessarily directly related to the scope and effects of a given

project, both dictate decisions by personnel more so than any other single factor we

encountered. Litigation particularly appears to increase document length and drives

analyses that may be largely unrelated to the project. Fear of crafting a judicially

vulnerable document forces personnel to err on the side of inclusion. Environmental Impact Statements are commonly perceived as being more “defensible,” although significance of impact is often mitigated away, and EAs often provide as

weighty (and lengthy) an analysis. Litigation was most frustratingly reported as

“raising the bar” or as “a moving target.” With each judicial decision, those charged

with NEPA compliance must determine what should be included in the analysis and

to what degree. The finding that agency solicitors can play a large role in defining

the scope of analyses is further evidence of these challenges and their impacts.

Although a number of questions exist regarding legal standing, the role of injunctions, burdens of proof, and decision expediency, no streamlining of the NEPA

Our interviews

revealed wide disparities both across

and within agencies

regarding individuals’ perceptions of

the purpose of NEPA

and how to define

successful NEPA

processes.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

process is likely to be entirely successful without incorporating specific suggestions

to address the role that lawsuits and the fear of lawsuits play in NEPA implementation.

Unresolved Issues

The research has identified a number of issues that remain unresolved. Two types

of questions emerged: (1) strategic questions that deserve attention from agency

directors and that could have strong influences upon how NEPA processes are

implemented in the future and (2) questions that can be addressed through further

scientific investigation to reveal trends, explanations, and possibly best practices

leading to better NEPA compliance and related outcomes.

Strategic questions—

What is the purpose of NEPA?—

Although CEQ regulations make clear that NEPA is supposed to be about making

“better decisions,” only a fraction of our respondents echoed this sentiment. Rather,

our interviews revealed a strong tendency for agency personnel to focus upon the

procedural aspects of the act rather than its intended purpose. As a result, ID teams

tend to treat NEPA primarily as a hoop to jump through, focusing primarily upon

completing the procedural requirements of the act with as little resistance as possible. In effect, procedural aspects of NEPA (e.g., public involvement, disclosure, a

bullet-proof process and document that can withstand litigation or appeals) have

become ends in themselves. What impacts do personnel’s perceptions of the purpose

of NEPA have upon NEPA outcomes, in particular upon improving the quality of

decisions? Is NEPA a task or is it a tool? If it is a tool, what are realistic uses for it?

What role does/can/should NEPA play in agency decisionmaking?—

The research revealed that decisions can often be made long before the completion

of the NEPA process. Clearly, this raises questions about the role of NEPA in

decisionmaking. What does NEPA add to the process? Our study begins to identify

some potential answers to this question, but further investigation would be necessary

to truly understand NEPA’s impacts on agency decisions.13 Such research might be

worthwhile prior to answering the bigger strategic question posed above. Some of

our respondents suggested that NEPA implementation could be streamlined if it

13 Kaiser (2006) empirically studied this question to a limited extent, finding little impact of

NEPA processes upon Forest Service decisions.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

could be “disentangled,” or separated, from the decisionmaking process entirely.

This could, in theory, conflict, however, with CEQ’s guidance and agency guidance

as well (see Forest Service Forest Implementation Plan Training 1900-1901, for

example), that a key goal of NEPA is to improve agency decisions.

Questions calling for further investigation—

What are the impacts of narrowing the scope of NEPA projects?—

Interviews revealed a tendency among NEPA implementers to narrow the scope of

their projects that are required to pass through the NEPA process. Narrowing the

scope of projects limits potential for different angles of attack from groups that

oppose agency decisions. It also provides ID team leaders with an opportunity to

declare points of contest brought up by the public or other entities as outside the

scope of the project. As a result, more narrowly defined projects have greater

potential to move through the NEPA process efficiently. On the flip side, narrowing the scope of projects presents certain challenges to ecosystem-scale management, by breaking up the system into smaller pieces.14 Our interviewees discounted

this possibility, suggesting that landscape-level management can still occur by

disaggregation and sequential implementation of sets of projects, but the time scale

over which such projects are implemented may limit their effectiveness. Are several

smaller NEPA processes more efficient than one larger process that addresses the

larger ecosystem? The question remains unanswered.

Is the NEPA process at odds with adaptive management?—

Although CEQ regulations suggest that monitoring should take place on all projects

in any federal agency in which some form of mitigation is included, only the

USACE NEPA guidance documents actually mandate monitoring on projects that

have passed through the NEPA process (32 CFR 651.15(b)). There are other agency

cases in which monitoring has actually been explicitly built into implementation

plans, but respondents from the other agencies suggested that monitoring takes place

more or less opportunistically on many projects when funds are available. As a

result, little data are available to actually assess the impacts of agency decisions on

the environment or other endpoints of interest, regardless of the various perceived

purposes of NEPA.

A general sentiment was expressed by respondents that the NEPA process

pushes them to make predictions with some reasonable degree of certainty, even

14 Committee of Scientists. 1999. Sustaining the people’s lands. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Agriculture.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

when adequate information is not available, rather than allowing them to use their

expert judgment to adapt and adjust implementation as necessary to achieve a

project’s purpose and need. Is NEPA inhibiting adaptive management? Can the two

be compatible?15 If monitoring data show that predictions are inaccurate and a

change in action is necessary, will another NEPA process have to start all over

again? What role is there for supplemental documents?

EAs vs. EISs: How are outcomes different for different NEPA pathways?—

Respondents reported that the choice to produce an EIS instead of an EA is commonly based upon the degree of public controversy and the likelihood of litigation.

It is generally perceived that an EIS is more defensible in court. Is this in fact the

case? Are there any trends in outcomes based on different NEPA pathways taken on

comparable projects? Most respondents felt that EAs and EISs often require a

similar amount of work. However, extra efforts to mitigate away significant impacts

are common in each document. Does this extra effort pay off in an EIS? What are

the key differences between these pathways in terms of factors inhibiting or facilitating the implementation of projects?

How do different sequences of events, particularly alternatives development and

public involvement, relate to different NEPA outcomes?—

Different sequences were found across our case studies reflecting differences both

across and within agencies. Are there any trends in how the order in which NEPA

compliance efforts unfold relates to different project outcomes (e.g., public response, litigation, resources spent, staff morale, etc.)?

How do both internal and external misconceptions of NEPA influence NEPA

processes and their outcomes?—

Misconceptions of the NEPA process held by the public are common, particularly

perceptions that public involvement in the NEPA process is a voting forum for

particular alternatives. Internally, agency staff tasked with NEPA compliance learn

primarily from their predecessors, rather than from official trainings. Although

these individuals are experienced in NEPA processes, they are not necessarily

knowledgeable. Thus, internal agency misconceptions about NEPA may be just as

15 Phillips and Randolph (2000) studied a small set of EISs and forest plans revealing that

monitoring plans were commonly included in these documents, but less is known about the

frequency with which such plans are carried out and how monitoring results are used.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

common as external, or public misconceptions. This may be a case of trained

incapacities. Further research into both public and agency misconceptions about

NEPA could help to identify avenues for improving both agency training and public

involvement.

What techniques for involving the public lead to better NEPA outcomes? Can any

contribute to diminishing litigation?—

Although public involvement processes are perhaps the most studied aspect of

the NEPA process, this still came up as the topic of greatest interest for future research among study respondents. Our literature review unearthed only two studies

explicitly using empirical data to attempt to link public involvement techniques to

specific NEPA outcomes across more than one NEPA process (Denq 1990, Innes

and Booher 2004).16 Rather, most comments were based on impressions of participants or the authors. Are there any trends with regard to specific techniques and

their impacts on public perceptions or rates of litigation or appeals?

It was commonly opined in our research that even the best public outreach

can be foiled by any one entity that wishes to remain outside the process or is

determined to sue regardless of agency efforts. Still, enhancing the general publics’

perceptions of federal agencies can have many more benefits than merely avoiding

litigation, not the least of which is making the work of agency personnel easier and

more enjoyable. Are there any techniques that tend to meet with greatest success?

Do these differ under different conditions?

Does the appeals process help or hinder Forest Service decisionmaking?—

Respondents from all agencies expressed curiosity about the Forest Service’s appeals

process. Internal opinions of the process within the agency were mixed. An analysis

of appeals, motivations for them, perceptions of them, and subsequent outcomes of

projects could reveal key lessons that could guide future use (or discontinuation) of

this practice.

How can the Forest Service limit litigation brought against it following NEPA

processes?—

As noted above, it only takes one disgruntled entity to bring a lawsuit, regardless

of the quality of the agency’s decision, the NEPA process, or public involvement

efforts. There is research to support that NEPA is the most commonly cited statute

in lawsuits against the Forest Service (Keele et al. 2006), but we were unable

16 Numerous articles about public involvement have been related to NEPA; we focused on

those that make explicit connections.

Enhancing the

general publics’

perceptions of

federal agencies

can have many more

benefits than merely

avoiding litigation,

not the least of

which is making the

work of agency

personnel easier

and more enjoyable.
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

to uncover any empirical studies into the specific motivations for them. Indeed, even

where the rationale for filing fuels-reduction appeals was investigated (Laband et al.

2006), it still remains unclear what motivates litigation, and by which publics.

Although on the surface such motivations may appear obvious, the interests that

underlie such actions can often be less clear. By bringing these interests to light, a

new question can be posed. Can these interests be addressed through other means?

Conclusion: Scientific Needs in Understanding

NEPA Implementation

Our literature review on the National Environmental Policy Act revealed a surprising dearth of meaningful empirical research of the factors influencing different

NEPA outcomes. To uncover any trends in outcomes that might be attributed to

differential implementation of the NEPA process, an overall theoretical and methodological approach to the problem is called for. A three-phased study seems

appropriate: (1) identification of key themes of interest; (2) a quantitative, largesample exploration of trends in relationships between these key themes; and (3)

qualitative investigation (with potential quantitative elements) of the underlying

reasons for the observed trends.

The preliminary study described herein and associated literature review are

linked with the first step in the process. Further discussions with NEPA practitioners can further refine the key variables of the study. These variables should

be defined in terms of outcomes of interest and independent variables that might

exert influence upon those outcomes.

Our research has begun to shed light on potential outcomes of interest through

identifying views of success and failure that exist among NEPA participants.

Potential outcomes of interest might include:

• Public perceptions of the agency, of the process, of the action

• Appeals and results of appeals

• Litigation and results of litigation

• Time spent

• Money spent

• Staff morale

• Staff views of degree of success

Each of these outcomes can be treated both quantitatively and qualitatively,

although quantitative representations will be most useful for identifying overall

trends in relationships with hypothesized explanatory variables.
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Explanatory, or independent, variables can also be treated quantitatively or

qualitatively. Quantitative explorations can reveal overall trends, and qualitative

explorations can investigate the underlying reasons for the observed relationships

between variables. This study revealed a number of potentially meaningful explanatory variables, including, but not limited to the following:

• ID team structure (number of members, turnover, subject matter)

• Involvement of decisionmaker

• Centralized processes

• Contractor use

• Public involvement techniques

• Sequence (especially public involvement, issues identification, alternatives

development)

• Writing process (who writes, use of boilerplate, intended audience)

• Document decisions

• Reported stumbling blocks or difficulties in NEPA compliance

• Internal misconceptions of NEPA processes

• Motivations for appeals, legal challenges

We propose that any future study should incorporate a mixed methods approach—identifying quantitative trends and examining their underlying explanations through qualitative process tracing and (if appropriate) quantitative survey

research to test hypotheses. The initial quantitative portion of such a study will

require a large sample size to at least partially account for the myriad confounding

factors that can exist outside the process (e.g., differential political climates, controversial subject matter, etc.). A statistically representative sample of all EAs and

EISs of interest over the last 5 to 10 years might be appropriate (with possible

stratification across potentially confounding factors or moderating variables).

Seeking quantitative trends will lead to the delineation of more refined research

questions that ask why certain relationships between the independent and dependent

variables were or were not observed. Answers to these questions can then be

pursued through further investigation. Quantitative survey research might be able

to answer certain questions that can be treated through deductive hypothesis testing, whereas qualitative research will be more appropriate to understand the more

detailed nuances of the findings or to explore issues for which hypotheses could not

be easily developed.

The literature is replete with opinion pieces, singular case studies, and theoretical propositions. Through empirical research, some specific uncertainties within the
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

NEPA process that have been debated since the act was signed into law might move

toward some degree of reasonable resolution. This preliminary effort represents a

first step in this direction. In addition to identifying practices of differing utility

within the NEPA processes of four federal agencies, it has uncovered critical areas

for further exploration that could reveal patterns relevant to enhancing NEPA

processes in terms of both their efficiency and their outcomes. Although NEPA

compliance is commonly viewed as an impediment to mission achievement, further

investigation of these themes could bring to light mechanisms for moving such

compliance into a more complementary role in agency planning processes and

project implementation.

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Appendix: Interview Scripts

NEPA Coordinator Script

Introduction:

Overview of our study:

• Comparing NEPA processes across agencies: FS, BLM, NPS, USACE

• Differences

• Definitions of success

• Innovations

• What works well and what doesn’t

• Sharing results

Topics for discussion:

• Overarching questions about NEPA process: success, innovations

• Some specific questions

• Some opinion questions:

• We’d like to understand the personal opinions of those we are interviewing.

We understand that these may not represent those of the entire agency.

• Case studies

• Training manuals

Recording:

• We’d like to record your answers if that would be OK with you. Our main goal

in doing this is to keep our conversation flowing and to be sure we don’t miss

any important information. We will not attribute any quotes without your prior

review and permission. We don’t intend to attribute any quotes in this research

and could offer you a promise of confidentiality if you’d like.

Overarching questions:

1. As you’ve now had the chance to digest a bit of what we are trying to accomplish, have you had any other thoughts about what you’d most like to learn

about other agencies’ NEPA processes?

Follow up... if you think of anything during the interview, please let us know.

2. If budget were no issue, what type of study of the NEPA process would be most

interesting/useful to you?

3. What do you see as the purpose of the NEPA process?
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4. How would you define a successful NEPA process?

5. Are there any particular aspects of NEPA that you find are commonly stumbling blocks within your agency?

6. Are there any particular innovations those within your agency have tried that

have worked out particularly well?

7. DOI only: We understand that new guidance documents may be forthcoming.

We’ll probably discuss some of this in our more specific questions, but we’d

love to get a sense for any major changes that will take place. Could you give us

a general sense of how NEPA guidance within your agency is about to change?

Will there be any philosophical changes?

Specific questions:

8. We’d like to ask you about some specific aspects of the NEPA process as

practiced within your agency. Before we do that, we have a question simply

about the order of a few of the specific events in your agency’s NEPA process.

Present table.

• Development of the initial proposed action

• Development of preliminary alternatives

• Notice of Intent

• Public involvement

• Interagency coordination

• Staffing (ID team development or otherwise)

What typically happens first?

Is the order always the same? Is any aspect of the order always the same? Is

there an ideal?

We’d like to ask you a bit more about some specific aspects of the NEPA

process.

EIS triggers

9. First, we’d like to ask you about how a field manager knows when an EIS is

appropriate. Have you had any common problems with this?

10. We’ve reviewed the guidance and have noticed the “catch-all” statement—does

this cause any problems? SHOW GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.

a) How often is it used to justify an EIS?
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Categorical exclusions

11. How satisfied are you with the list of categorical exclusions included in your

guidance document?

12. Have you had any particular problems in this regard?

13. Are the categorical exclusions clearly defined enough to be useful? Are they too

vague? Too prescriptive?

14. How often are EAs performed for other reasons even though a project might

fall under a categorical exclusion? What are the other reasons?

Staffing and responsibility

15. How are staffing decisions made?

16. Have there been any particular problems associated with staffing of NEPA

processes?

17. Are any pieces of the NEPA process centralized in your agency (as opposed to

being performed by those in field locations)? Which? Is this common?

18. What role can contractors play within the NEPA process? What roles do they

typically play?

a) What do you see as the pros and cons of using outside contractors?

Scoping

19. We’ve talked briefly about the order of the scoping process already. Are there

any particular challenges that you see commonly arising during scoping?

Alternatives

20. Are there any particular problems that tend to pop up during alternatives

development?

21. How does an alternative get ruled out for further consideration as “unreasonable?”

Public involvement

22. We’ve also talked about the order in which public involvement takes place. Are

there any particular problems that commonly arise with regard to public involvement in NEPA processes?
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23. What do you feel are the most important aspects of public involvement to

contribute to a successful NEPA process?

24. Do you feel that certain techniques work better than others for public involvement? How so? For what purposes?

25. How do you determine which comments to respond to? What does “substantive”

really mean?

Interagency coordination

26. Do you find any particular problems commonly arising in the NEPA process

with regard to interagency coordination?

27. Do you feel that requirements for interagency coordination add too much to the

NEPA process?

28. When is interagency coordination most helpful? Are there times when it is

overly cumbersome?

29. How are conflicting views of different agencies addressed?

Tiering

30. Is tiering regularly used? Why or why not? At what levels within the agency?

How does the agency use programmatic EISs, as opposed to those for particular

projects?

31. Does tiering actually save time and/or resources when it is used?

Monitoring

32. Does any monitoring typically take place on implemented projects?

33. Are there any particular challenges associated with monitoring?

Training manuals

Could we get copies of any official trainig manuals that might exist for those

involved in the NEPA process in your agency?
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Potential case studies

Type Location Summary Success ContactsRecreationalRestoration/fireActivemanagement
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

Activity Usual Ideal Other

Development of the initial proposed action

Development of preliminary alternatives

Notice of Intent

Public involvement

Involvement of other agencies

Staffing (ID team development or otherwise)
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

ID Team Script

Introduction:

Overview of our study:

• Comparing NEPA processes across agencies: FS, BLM, NPS, USACE

• Differences

• Definitions of success

• Innovations

• What works well and what doesn’t

• Sharing results

Topics for discussion:

• This specific process and your opinions about it

• We’d like to understand the personal opinions of those we are interviewing.

We understand that these may not represent those of the entire agency.

Recording:

• We’d like to record your answers if that would be OK with you. Our main goal

in doing this is to keep our conversation flowing and to be sure we don’t miss

any important information. We will not attribute any quotes to you without

your prior review and permission. We don’t intend to attribute any quotes in

this research and could offer you a promise of confidentiality if you’d like.

1. Before we begin, I’d just like to get a sense for what you see to be the purpose

of the NEPA process.

2. How you would define a successful NEPA process?

Go into EIS-specific questions here. See attached list and table. Then return to

the questions below.

3. If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently.

4. Is there anything you feel worked particularly well within your NEPA process.

5. If not already answered . . . Was there anything that went particularly badly

during the process?

6. What would you most like to learn about other agencies’ NEPA processes?

7. If budget were no issue, what type of study of the NEPA process would be most

interesting/useful to you?
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799

8. If you had the power to change anything about NEPA, the CEQ regulations, or

your agency’s NEPA guidance, what would you most want to change?

9. Clearly, numerous small decisions are made throughout the NEPA process. How

do you feel these relate to the final decision made by the decisionmaker? Is the

proper decision clear by the time it gets to that stage? At what stage does it

become clear what the most appropriate alternative is?

a. Do you feel that NEPA is a decisionmaking process or is it something

different?

10. How big of a concern is the fear of litigation? How does this impact the NEPA

process?

EIS specific questions

Walk through the process, use attached tables. Notes should include who, how, and

any specific issues related to carrying out the task. The following checklist should

be asked about (who, what, how, when, why, and specific problems or successes for

each—details should be included in the table):

____ Developing the purpose and need

____ Decision about what NEPA pathway (document) to choose

____ Notice of intent

____ Tiering

____ Staffing (How teams formed? Anything missing from team?)

____ Contracting

____ Centralized aspects

____ Division of labor

____ Scoping

____ Involvement of other agencies
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

____ Development of alternatives (number, reasonableness, external

involvement)

____ Environmental analyses (scope, cumulative effects)

____ Public involvement (scoping)

____ Public involvement (commenting)

____ Response to public comments

____ Response to agency comments

____ Writing/editing

____ Revisions

____ Record of decision

____ Chain of command

____ Role of decisionmaker

____ Final decision

____ Internal response to the decision

____ External response to decision

____ Implementation (or barriers to implementation)
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-799 Order Date Task/event Notes (who, what, how, why, issues/problems)
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Exploring National Environmental Policy Act Processes Across Federal Land Management Agencies

Decisionmaker Script

Introduction:

Overview of our study:

• Comparing NEPA processes across agencies: FS, BLM, NPS, USACE

• Differences

• Definitions of success

• Innovations

• What works well and what doesn’t

• Sharing results

Topics for discussion:

• This specific process and your opinions about it

• We’d like to understand the personal opinions of those we are interviewing.

We understand that these may not represent those of the entire agency.

Recording:

• We’d like to record your answers if that would be OK with you. Our main goal

in doing this is to keep our conversation flowing and to be sure we don’t miss

any important information. We will not attribute any quotes to you without

your prior review and permission. We don’t intend to attribute any quotes in

this research and could offer you a promise of confidentiality if you’d like.

1. Before we begin, I’d just like to get a sense for what you see to be the purpose

of the NEPA process.

11. How would you define a successful NEPA process?

12. When did you first become involved in the NEPA process? To what extent?

13. To what degree did you communicate with the ID team during the EIS production process?

a. What influence(s) did you exert on the EIS process?

14. At what point did the final decision become clear?

15. What aspects of the final decision remained flexible throughout the process?

16. To what degree did you confer with the ID team or others in making the final

decision and constructing the ROD?

17. Did the ID team recommend one specific course of action?
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18. If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?

19. Is there anything you feel worked particularly well within this NEPA process?

20. If not already answered... Was there anything that went particularly badly

during the process?

21. What would you most like to learn about other agencies’ NEPA processes?

22. If budget were no issue, what type of study of the NEPA process would be most

interesting/useful to you?

23. If you had the power to change anything about NEPA, the CEQ regulations, or

your agency’s NEPA guidance, what would you most want to change?

24. Clearly, numerous small decisions are made throughout the NEPA process. How

do you feel these related to the final decision? Was the proper decision already

clear prior to completion of the EIS? At what stage did it become clear what the

most appropriate alternative is?

a. Do you feel that NEPA is a decisionmaking process or is it something

different?

25. How do you feel the public participation process went in this process? How did

public comments influence you final decision?

26. Forest Service Only: How do you feel about the appeal process within the

Forest Service? Do you think it is a useful thing? How so? How does it influence EIS production in any way?

27. How big of a concern is the fear of litigation? How does this impact the NEPA

process?
Pacific Northwest Research Station

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P.O. Box 3890

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