{"id":5288,"date":"2025-04-08T10:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T14:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weact.org\/?post_type=program&p=5288"},"modified":"2025-11-03T11:23:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T16:23:37","slug":"protecting-nepa","status":"publish","type":"program","link":"https:\/\/weact.org\/es\/programs\/protecting-nepa\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting NEPA"},"template":"","class_list":["post-5288","program","type-program","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","program_tax-protecting-nepa"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":5638,"program_type":false,"abstract":"NEPA is an acronym for the National Environmental Policy Act. NEPA is a bedrock law, known as \"the people's law,\" that provides a way for communities to have a say in the federal projects that impact their neighborhoods, health, and lives."},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_hero_links","acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_hero_links":{"title":"","abstract":"","links":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"What is NEPA, and Why Should You Care?<\/strong>\r\nSigned into law in 1970, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to study and analyze the environmental effects of proposed plans prior to making decisions on whether or not to proceed with them. Before NEPA, federal agencies did not have to even consider the environmental impacts of their actions. After NEPA, these agencies, in cooperation with state and local governments, must use all practical resources to create conditions in which \"man and nature can exist in productive harmony.\"\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5641\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]\"\" Power plant across from a playground in Port Arthur, Texas. Photo by AJ Yuan, WE ACT for Environmental Justice[\/caption]\r\n\r\nSpecifically, NEPA requires all federal agencies to prepare detailed Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements for projects and actions they undertake. The purpose of the law is two-fold, ensuring that the government does due diligence in determining the full extent of any potential impacts a proposed project may have on the environment and surrounding communities as well as ensuring that those communities are aware of any such potential impacts and have a voice in whether and how they are implemented.\r\n\r\nBy publishing these studies, as is required by NEPA, the public can not only gain a better understanding of the environmental impacts of a given project, but they can also respond accordingly. Again, this is critical because the law ensures that both the time and effort are taken to investigate and understand the environmental impacts as well as provides an opportunity for the public to meaningfully participate in the process.\r\n\r\nNEPA also established a Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which is required to monitor all federal agencies and ensure that they are adhering to the legislation.\r\n\r\nWhy We Need to Protect NEPA\r\n