A Look Down the Trail, Spring 2010
To honor the 40th anniversary of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) recently announced some important proposed changes to its implementation. In mid-February, CEQ released draft guidance for NEPA in three areas: greenhouse gas emissions; mitigation and monitoring; and categorical exclusions. The three proposals are independent, with separate comment processes.
All three of these proposals have the potential to benefit both watershed restoration and travel management/off-road vehicle decisions. For example, the new greenhouse gas (GHG) guidance proposes that if an activity is projected to emit 25,000 or more metric tons of greenhouse gasses, then the NEPA document would have to include a quantitative analysis. CEQ is not currently proposing that this apply to federal land management actions, though they are accepting comments on this idea.
If CEQ does apply the new GHG guidance more broadly to federal lands, it could have a significant impact on travel planning analyses. For example, our colleagues at the Wilderness Society put together a rough estimate for motorized recreation on one national forest, finding that it could be responsible for emitting almost 35,000 metric tons of greenhouse gasses. This points to an opportunity for national forests to analyze, and mitigate for, the greenhouse gas emissions of off-road vehicle recreation in new travel plan analyses.
That’s a good segue to mitigation… CEQ guidance on this topic could be extremely valuable. They propose three main changes to current mitigation protocols:
“First, proposed mitigation should be considered throughout the NEPA process. … those mitigation measures that are adopted by the agency should be identified as binding commitments to the extent consistent with agency authority… . Second, a monitoring program should be created or strengthened to ensure mitigation measures are implemented and effective. Third, public participation and accountability should be supported through proactive disclosure of, and access to, agency mitigation monitoring reports and documents.”
This is significant for road decommissioning. Since at least the mid 1990s, and perhaps even earlier, the agency has been including road decommissioning to mitigate new road construction and other impacts of timber sales. Yet this mitigation is rarely binding and rarely funded, thus making its implementation uncertain. Many recommended mitigation measures are never implemented. It remains unclear if CEQ has the authority to make mitigation binding, but if so, it could make road decommissioning much more viable. In addition, monitoring and publicizing mitigation implementation data would make it easier to track progress.
The final topic is categorical exclusions (CE). Apparently the revision to the CE guidance is fairly minimal, however, we hope the Forest Service will use this opportunity to make road decommissioning a formal category appropriate for a CE. While we want the agency to undertake comprehensive NEPA analysis at the watershed or forest level to determine the minimum road system and identify roads for decommissioning, there are many cases where the agency knows a road is causing problems, they no longer need it, and removing it will only benefit the environment. In such cases, it would be great if the agency had clear guidance on the appropriate application of categorical exclusions.
Overall, this new CEQ guidance could provide important opportunities for enhancing Wildlands CPR’s work, but the guidance isn’t finalized yet and the agency is accepting comments. Within the next few weeks, Wildlands CPR will post key talking points on each of the three proposals as they relate to our work, along with comment submission information – keep an eye on our website for more information, and please send in comments!
All three of these proposals have the potential to benefit both watershed restoration and travel management/off-road vehicle decisions. For example, the new greenhouse gas (GHG) guidance proposes that if an activity is projected to emit 25,000 or more metric tons of greenhouse gasses, then the NEPA document would have to include a quantitative analysis. CEQ is not currently proposing that this apply to federal land management actions, though they are accepting comments on this idea.
If CEQ does apply the new GHG guidance more broadly to federal lands, it could have a significant impact on travel planning analyses. For example, our colleagues at the Wilderness Society put together a rough estimate for motorized recreation on one national forest, finding that it could be responsible for emitting almost 35,000 metric tons of greenhouse gasses. This points to an opportunity for national forests to analyze, and mitigate for, the greenhouse gas emissions of off-road vehicle recreation in new travel plan analyses.
That’s a good segue to mitigation… CEQ guidance on this topic could be extremely valuable. They propose three main changes to current mitigation protocols:
“First, proposed mitigation should be considered throughout the NEPA process. … those mitigation measures that are adopted by the agency should be identified as binding commitments to the extent consistent with agency authority… . Second, a monitoring program should be created or strengthened to ensure mitigation measures are implemented and effective. Third, public participation and accountability should be supported through proactive disclosure of, and access to, agency mitigation monitoring reports and documents.”
This is significant for road decommissioning. Since at least the mid 1990s, and perhaps even earlier, the agency has been including road decommissioning to mitigate new road construction and other impacts of timber sales. Yet this mitigation is rarely binding and rarely funded, thus making its implementation uncertain. Many recommended mitigation measures are never implemented. It remains unclear if CEQ has the authority to make mitigation binding, but if so, it could make road decommissioning much more viable. In addition, monitoring and publicizing mitigation implementation data would make it easier to track progress.
The final topic is categorical exclusions (CE). Apparently the revision to the CE guidance is fairly minimal, however, we hope the Forest Service will use this opportunity to make road decommissioning a formal category appropriate for a CE. While we want the agency to undertake comprehensive NEPA analysis at the watershed or forest level to determine the minimum road system and identify roads for decommissioning, there are many cases where the agency knows a road is causing problems, they no longer need it, and removing it will only benefit the environment. In such cases, it would be great if the agency had clear guidance on the appropriate application of categorical exclusions.
Overall, this new CEQ guidance could provide important opportunities for enhancing Wildlands CPR’s work, but the guidance isn’t finalized yet and the agency is accepting comments. Within the next few weeks, Wildlands CPR will post key talking points on each of the three proposals as they relate to our work, along with comment submission information – keep an eye on our website for more information, and please send in comments!
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