The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law signed on January 1, 1970 by U.S. President Richard Nixon. The law applies only to federal agencies and the programs they fund. It requires that prior to taking any "major" or "significant" action, the federal agency must consider the environmental impacts of that action. Full disclosure of the potential impacts of a federal action before it is taken helps keep the decision-making process open, honest, transparent and cooperative.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO) receives funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and is required to follow NEPA in planning, design and construction of capital proposed projects. The law requires an environmental impact statement (EIS) to be prepared for all major federal actions which may have a significant impact on the environment. If a major federal action will not have a significant impact on the environment, the agency may prepare a shorter document called an "Environmental Assessment" (EA).
EISs and EAs are documents prepared to aid in decision making, the same way a person would use a consumer report guide to make an informed decision before investing in a car. These documents explore feasible alternatives to a proposed action, and the likely environmental consequences of those actions. Impacts to the physical, biological and social environment are among the consequences considered and assessed in the document. METRO is currently in the process of preparing EISs for the proposed federally funded GRT corridors. METRO is also preparing an EA for its proposed Intermodal Terminal.
Public participation is an important element of the NEPA process. The sponsoring federal agency must involve the public by providing them notice of and allowing them to comment on proposed actions. The objective of the public involvement process is to ensure that stakeholder concerns are heard and that the resulting project has broad public involvement. METRO has been inviting neighborhood groups, businesses, property owners, residents, public officials, the driving public, and others who have an interest in understanding METRO's current studies, the respective schedules, and the issues to numerous public meetings during the NEPA process.