2019 ANNUAL NEPA REPORT of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Practice Submitted to NAEP Board of Directors Edited and compiled by Charles P. Nicholson, NEPA Practice Chair With contributions by Betty Dehoney, James Gregory, Piet and Carole deWitt, Charles P. Nicholson, and P. E. Hudson May 2020 This report reviews NEPA document submittals and statistics, NEPA legislation, and NEPA litigation for calendar year 2019. The purpose of this report is to document the status of NEPA compliance and perspectives during the reporting year. We welcome reader comment and inquiry to [email protected]. Annual NEPA Report 2019 NAEP NEPA Practice Table of Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... iii 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................1 2. The NEPA Practice in 2019 ...................................................................................................3 3. Just the Stats ...........................................................................................................................4 3.1 2019 Published EISs ......................................................................................................4 3.2 Geographic Distribution of EISs Published in 2019 ......................................................6 4. Preparation Times for Environmental Impact Statements Made Available in Calendar Year 2019 ................................................................................................................8 4.1 Summary ........................................................................................................................8 4.2 EIS Numbers ..................................................................................................................8 4.3 Final EISs .......................................................................................................................8 4.4 Draft EISs.....................................................................................................................12 4.5 Agency Ranks by Preparation Times ...........................................................................14 4.6 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................15 5. 2019 NEPA Legislation ........................................................................................................16 5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................16 5.2 Enacted Legislation ......................................................................................................17 5.3 Proposed Legislation ....................................................................................................17 6. Recent NEPA Case Law—2019 ...........................................................................................30 6.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................30 6.2 Statistics and Overview of Cases .................................................................................31 6.3 Trends ..........................................................................................................................32 6.4 Details of Cases............................................................................................................36 Figures Figure 3-1. Draft and final EISs published in 2019 by department. ................................................6 Figure 6-1. Map of U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. .......................................................................31 Tables Table 3-1. Draft and final EISs published in Federal Register in 2019 by agency. ........................4 Table 3-2. Draft and final EISs published in 2019 by state and territory. .......................................7 Table 4-1. Preparation times in calendar days for final and final supplemental EISs made available in calendar year 2019. See the Acronyms and Abbreviations list on page iii for abbreviations of agencies not mentioned in the text. ........................................................9 Table 4-2. A comparison of 2019 final EIS completion rates with the average EIS completion rates for the period from 1997 through 2018. ....................................................10 Table 4-3. Preparation times in calendar days for draft and draft supplemental EISs made available in calendar year 2019. ...........................................................................................12 Page | i Annual NEPA Report 2019 NAEP NEPA Practice Table 4-4. A comparison of 2019 draft EIS completion rates with the average draft EIS completion rates for the period 1997 through 2018. .............................................................13 Table 4-5. Average preparation times in calendar days for Draft and Final EISs made available in 2019 arranged in descending order. ..................................................................14 Table 6-1. Number of U.S. Courts of Appeal NEPA cases, by year and by circuit. .....................30 Page | ii Annual NEPA Report 2019 NAEP NEPA Practice Acronyms and Abbreviations APHIS Animal and Plant Health HHS Department of Health and Human Inspection Service Services BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs H.R. House Resolution BLM Bureau of Land Management HUD Department of Housing and BOEM Bureau of Ocean Energy Urban Development Management NAEP National Association of BOR Bureau of Reclamation Environmental Professionals CatEx Categorical Exclusion NASA National Aeronautics and Space CPB Customs and Border Protection Administration CEQ Council on Environmental NEPA National Environmental Policy Quality Act DOC Department of Commerce NHPA National Historic Preservation DOE Department of Energy Act DOI Department of Interior NOA Notice of Availability DOS Department of State NOAA National Oceanic and DOT Department of Transportation Atmospheric Administration DVA Department of Veterans Affairs NOI Notice of Intent EA Environmental assessment NPS National Park Service EIS Environmental impact statement NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission EPA Environmental Protection Agency NSF National Science Foundation ESA Endangered Species Act OSM Office of Surface Mining and FAA Federal Aviation Administration Reclamation and Enforcement FAST Fixing America’s Surface PEIS Programmatic environmental Transportation impact statement FEMA Federal Emergency Management ROD Record of Decision Agency RUS Rural Utilities Service FERC Federal Energy Regulatory S. Senate Commission TVA Tennessee Valley Authority FHwA Federal Highway Administration USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers FONSI Finding of No Significant Impact USAF United States Air Force FRA Federal Railroad Administration USCG United States Coast Guard FTA Federal Transit Administration USFS U.S. Forest Service FWS Fish and Wildlife Service USMC United States Marine Corps GSA General Services Administration USN United States Navy Page | iii Annual NEPA Report 2019 NAEP NEPA Practice 1. Introduction Betty Dehoney, CEP, PMP, ENV SP1 NAEP President This 2019 Annual Report of the National Environmental Policy Act Practice (Annual NEPA Report) has been prepared for the benefit of the members of the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP), and for submittal to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to be shared with federal agency liaisons with whom NAEP members work to ensure adherence to the stated legislative purpose of NEPA: “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.” The purpose of the Annual NEPA Report is to improve environmental impact assessment practice through a retrospective review of the 2019 environmental impact statements (EISs), evaluation of the average timeline for preparation of EISs, consideration of legislative activities undertaken by Congress in relation to NEPA, and summarization of “lessons learned” from the decisions issued by the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. This review is based on consideration of over 315 EISs issued by 43 Federal lead agencies. As in previous years four departments (Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, and Defense) are responsible for three-quarters of all EISs published in 2019. The Bureau of Land Management was the agency that published the most EISs in 2019 (they published 64), and the U.S. Forest Service published the second most, 52. The Army Corps of Engineers published 32, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission published 20, and the Fish and Wildlife Service published 18. Eight state or local agencies were lead agencies for EISs published in 2019. The annual average preparation time of final EISs made available in 2019 was the third consecutive year of decreased preparation times, and is one-half year less than the peak in 2016. The annual average preparation time for draft EISs made available in 2019 was the highest recorded for the period 1997-2019. Federal agencies adopted more EISs in 2019 than in any year since