Opinion ID: 353836
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: applicability of nepa

Text: 7 NEPA was enacted in 1970. The Department of Defense is not excepted from the requirements of the Act, Committee for Nuclear Responsibility v. Schlesinger, 404 U.S. 917, 92 S.Ct. 242, 30 L.Ed.2d 191 (1971); Concerned About Trident v. Rumsfeld, 555 F.2d 817, 822 (D.C.Cir.1977), and, recognizing this fact has adopted rules and regulations to insure compliance with NEPA by its subordinates, including the Air Force. 32 C.F.R. § 214.1 et seq. 3 8 NEPA is specifically applicable to this relocation because it will directly and substantially affect the physical and economic environments of two major urban centers. It will directly affect the lives of more than 10,000 persons and indirectly affect the lives of thousands more. See Concerned About Trident v. Rumsfeld, supra ; City of Rochester v. United States Postal Service, 541 F.2d 967 (2d Cir. 1976). Each of the following goals which Congress sought to attain through the enactment of NEPA will be affected by the proposed action. 9 (To) assure for all Americans safe, healthful, productive, an esthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings; 10 (To) preserve important historic, cultural, and natural aspects of our national heritage, and maintain, wherever possible, an environment which supports diversity and variety of individual choice; 11 (To) achieve a balance between population and resource use which will permit high standards of living and a wide sharing of life's amenities(.) 12 42 U.S.C. § 4331(b)(2), (4), (5). 13 The District Court was, therefore, clearly right when it held that the Air Force had to comply with NEPA before it could implement its proposal and the Air Force was wise in not appealing from that decision of the District Court. McDowell v. Schlesinger, 404 F.Supp. 221 (W.D.Mo.1975).