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My Approach to NEPA Analysis -- A Focus on Environmental Assessments (EA).

CEQ estimates that federal agencies prepare over 50,000 EAs each year, as compared to approximately 350 Environmental Impact Statements. Additionally EAs are frequently used to document the ability of mitigation to reduce impacts to a level below "significance" so the agency can avoid the time and effort that can be involved with preparing an EIS. Some agencies heavily stress producing EAs that are legally sufficient. Being legally sufficient should be the minimum goal, however, simply meeting the letter of the law and being legally sufficient does not necessarily mean that it is good NEPA.

Knowing and understanding the context and intensity of the ecological effects of a project is fundamental to environmental analysis. In comparison to EISs, there is relatively little CEQ guidance or regulatory requirements for EAs and while the references available do a good job of organizing the legal requirements they typically provide only limited guidance on the ecological parameters. Additionally, unlike EISs which are frequently done with the help of specialized contractors as well as other internal and external resources, EAs are not uncommonly assigned to an individual or office for execution.

I take an aggressive position on the use and preparation of EAs. It is my opinion that there are many relatively routine actions that have the potential to have adverse environmental impacts, and therefore should not be eligible for a categorical exclusion. However, many if not most, of these actions can be done in an environmental benign manner if they are carefully reviewed and supervised. This opinion leads to actively supporting the use of mitigated EA/FONSIs. A mitigated EA/FONSI with early and adequate scoping meets both the letter and spirit of the NEPA better than the routine production of EISs where adverse environmental impacts are disclosed but not necessarily mitigated. For these reasons, EAs have become an important tool in fulfilling the goals of NEPA.

Danny Reinke, PhD

Endangered Species: Legal Requirements and Policy Guidance

Dr. Reinke has more than 25 years of NEPA experience working for private consulting firms, DoD and other federal agencies. Currently he works at Edward AFB, CA where he is a Senior Environmental Scientist for NEPA and Natural Resources issues.

Before coming to Edwards AFB he worked for the Army National Guard at both the installation and headquarters level where he developed the initial NEPA guidance for the Army National Guard. Dr. Reinke received a BS in Biology/Chemistry from Southwester Oklahoma State College and a MS in Botany and PhD in Plant Ecology from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Reinke is a member of numerous national and international environmental organizations and is a regular presenter on NEPA issues at conference and seminars. He is the senior author of two books; "The NEPA Reference Guide" 1999 Battelle Press and "Endangered Species, Legal Requirements and Policy Guidance" 2001 Battelle Press both coauthored with Lucinda Low Swartz, and the designer and developer of the NEPA Reference DVD 2011 with Owen Schmidt.