Council On Environmental Quality: Consideration of Past Actions In Cumulative Effects Analysis

In this Memorandum, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) provides guidance on the extent to which agencies of the Federal government are required to analyze the environmental effects of past actions when they describe the cumulative environmental effect of a proposed action in accordance with Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. § 4332, and the CEQ Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA, 40 C.F.R. parts 1500-1508. CEQ's interpretation of NEPA is entitled to deference. Andrus v. Sierra Club, 442 U.S. 347, 358 (1979). II. Guidance The environmental analysis required under NEPA is forward-looking, in that it focuses on the potential impacts of the proposed action that an agency is considering. Thus, review of past actions is required to the extent that this review informs agency decisionmnaking regarding the proposed action. This can occur in two ways: First, the effects of past actions may warrant consideration in the analysis of the cumulative effects of a proposal for agency action. CEQ interprets NEPA and CEQ's NEPA regulations on cumulative effects as requiring analysis and a concise description of the identifiable present effects of past actions to the extent that they are relevant and useful in analyzing whether the reasonably foreseeable effects of the agency proposal for action and its alternatives may have a continuing, additive and significant relationship to those effects. In determining what information is necessary for a cumulative effects analysis, agencies should use scoping to focus on the extent to which information is…

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PSCAA Advisory Council Meeting Agenda
Add to CalendarMWednesday Mar 11, 9:00am - 11:35am
1904 3rd Avenue, Suite 105, Seattle, WA 98101
Call to order – Roll Call – Quorum Established – Land Acknowledgement We would like to acknowledge that our Agency operates in four present-day counties, which are the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people, past and present. This acknowledgement does not take the place of authentic relationships with indigenous communities in our jurisdiction and [...]