The National Environmental Policy Act
What is NEPA?
NEPA is a key environmental law that provides local communities the ability to weigh in on federally regulated projects that impact their health and safety. It requires federal agencies to engage in a review process to identify any significant environmental, economic, social, or health impacts a project may have before decisions are made and construction begins. It is therefore a critical tool in ensuring that the US is accountable to climate goals and environmental justice commitments.
Everyone deserves to live, work, and play in healthy communities where the air is safe to breathe and the water is safe to drink. We need laws like NEPA to be strong enough to put people and planet over polluters and corporate greed.
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Public input
Before a project is started, the federal government must ask impacted communities for their input and consider their perspectives.
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Informed decision making
NEPA ensures that federal agencies evaluate and inform the public of all essential information and potential alternatives to dirty or dangerous projects.
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Transparency
NEPA requires disclosure of a proposed project's impacts to the surrounding communities before construction begins.
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Accountability
NEPA ensures that citizens have the right to go to court to enforce environmental laws and hold the government accountable when it violates the law.
Did you know?
The US as Climate Leader or Fossil Fuel Sympathizer?
The US still has time to decide how we will show up at COP27. Here, we raise the alarm, once again, about the damage done to BIPOC communities by the US addiction to fossil fuels—and the need for leadership on this issue.
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Three times NEPA has protected communities of color
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) helps prevent greedy corporate polluters from exploiting marginalized communities.
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Reducing Oil Spills: How Strengthening NEPA Can Help
Without critical environmental justice, fossil fuel companies will continue to put profit over people. It's important to learn from past incidents so that environmental laws like NEPA can be strengthened, oil spills can be reduced, and people can be protected.
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