Environmental Impact Statement

The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process is the product of the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This act established the EIS process as a way to hold federal agencies and federally funded projects accountable for potential environmental degradation. NEPA requires that U.S. federal agencies or anyone receiving federal funding prepare detailed analyses of any of their actions that significantly impact the quality of the [Page 210]environment, which includes almost all developments, such as roads, industrial parks, malls, or airports. It is, therefore, an important piece of U.S. legislation that obliges federal agencies to incorporate environmental values into their decision making. The significance of the EIS process does not simply lie in its ability to make federal actions more transparent but also in its capacity ...