NEPA Procedures - Transboundary Environmental Impacts
In July 1997, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published guidance on the
applicability of NEPA to proposed federal actions that may have transboundary impacts.
The guidance does not expand the range of actions to which NEPA currently applies.
An action which does not now fall under NEPA would not be included because of the
guidance. The CEQ also noted that many proposed federal actions will not have
transboundary effects, and Federal agencies should use the scoping process to identify
such actions. For those actions which have the potential to cause transboundary
impacts, case law interpreting NEPA has reinforced the need to analyze these impacts
regardless of geographic boundaries. The CEQ concludes, “NEPA requires agencies
to include analysis of reasonably foreseeable transboundary effects of proposed actions in
their analysis of proposed actions in the United States. Such effects are best
identified during the scoping stage, and should be analyzed to the best of the
agency’s ability using reasonably available information. Such analysis should
be included in the EA or EIS prepared for the proposed action.”
The U.S., Canada, and Mexico are negotiating a Transboundary
Environmental Impact Assessments (TEIA) agreement that will require each country to
assess any significant transboundary environmental impacts of proposed projects.
Executive Order 12114 (Environmental Effects
Abroad) requires Federal agencies to analyze in NEPA documents the significant impacts of
proposed projects on the environment outside the U.S.
For more information, contact Archie Melançon.
