Bebe
03-04-2008, 07:56 PM
Internal Organization and External Contracting for the NEPA Process: Lessons from New Institutional Economics and Strategic Organizational Design
A White Paper Prepared for USDA Forest Service ₤September 20, 2007
1 School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington Indiana
2 USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland Oregon *Corresponding Author: 1315 E. Tenth Street, Bloomington IN 47405-1701, 812-855-5971, kenricha@indiana.edu.
₤ The long term intent is to publish several referred journal articles based upon this paper and the information contained within.
SOURCE: http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/about/programs/fsd/NEPA/New%20Institutional%20Economic%20in%20FS%20NEPA.pd f
Some great quotes:
Compliance with NEPA requirements, particularly those that pertain to document preparation, has not only encumbered Forest Service resources, but has had other unfortunate consequences, including delays and diminished predictability in project implementation.15
One measure of the challenges that the Forest Service faces is the number of lawsuits it defends each year. From 1989 to 2002, the Forest Service defended 729 suits in federal courts, won 57.6 percent of the cases, lost 21.3 percent, and settled 17.6 percent.16
It has been suggested that the Forest Service believes such litigation “constrains its professional expertise and frustrates effective management.”17
b. Inform and Engage the Public NEPA also requires that all of the detailed statements be made available not only to the “Federal, State and local agencies, which are authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards,” but to the public as well.35
The more detailed regulations developed by CEQ provide that NEPA procedures must insure that environmental information is available to public officials and citizens before decisions are made and before actions are taken. [P]ublic scrutiny [is] essential to implementing NEPA. Most important, NEPA documents mustconcentrate on the issues that are truly significant to the action in question, rather than amassing needless detail.36
As many Forest Service employees see it, they are caught in a bind, where the very procedures they need to follow to get them to their goal keep them from getting there.
As one influential Forest Service report stated, Too often, the Forest Service is so busy meeting procedural requirements, such as preparing voluminous plans, studies, and associated documentation, that it has trouble fulfilling its historic mission: to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.45
Worse, this logic goes, in many cases that have pitted Forest Service personnel against special interests, generally environmentalists, the NEPA procedures have been used as a roadblock to taking considered, even urgent, action to protect the health of forests imperiled by disease or fire.47
In some cases, environmental groups have issued legal challenges to Forest Service NEPA procedures on an almost automatic basis. This has led to the perception among some Forest Service personnel that NEPA is a necessary evil. Under this view, NEPA documents are designed not to inform decisions or involve the public, but to withstand legal challenges.
…some groups have successfully used appeals to obstruct timber sales, and Forest Service employees therefore treat almost every ground-disturbing project as a potential target. They spend a tremendous amount of time trying to “bullet-proof” project planning against appeals and litigation. Challenges themselves, if they materialize, can be enormously time-consuming.48
It's only 49 pages, for some of you that's bathroom reading:p
A White Paper Prepared for USDA Forest Service ₤September 20, 2007
1 School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington Indiana
2 USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland Oregon *Corresponding Author: 1315 E. Tenth Street, Bloomington IN 47405-1701, 812-855-5971, kenricha@indiana.edu.
₤ The long term intent is to publish several referred journal articles based upon this paper and the information contained within.
SOURCE: http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/about/programs/fsd/NEPA/New%20Institutional%20Economic%20in%20FS%20NEPA.pd f
Some great quotes:
Compliance with NEPA requirements, particularly those that pertain to document preparation, has not only encumbered Forest Service resources, but has had other unfortunate consequences, including delays and diminished predictability in project implementation.15
One measure of the challenges that the Forest Service faces is the number of lawsuits it defends each year. From 1989 to 2002, the Forest Service defended 729 suits in federal courts, won 57.6 percent of the cases, lost 21.3 percent, and settled 17.6 percent.16
It has been suggested that the Forest Service believes such litigation “constrains its professional expertise and frustrates effective management.”17
b. Inform and Engage the Public NEPA also requires that all of the detailed statements be made available not only to the “Federal, State and local agencies, which are authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards,” but to the public as well.35
The more detailed regulations developed by CEQ provide that NEPA procedures must insure that environmental information is available to public officials and citizens before decisions are made and before actions are taken. [P]ublic scrutiny [is] essential to implementing NEPA. Most important, NEPA documents mustconcentrate on the issues that are truly significant to the action in question, rather than amassing needless detail.36
As many Forest Service employees see it, they are caught in a bind, where the very procedures they need to follow to get them to their goal keep them from getting there.
As one influential Forest Service report stated, Too often, the Forest Service is so busy meeting procedural requirements, such as preparing voluminous plans, studies, and associated documentation, that it has trouble fulfilling its historic mission: to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.45
Worse, this logic goes, in many cases that have pitted Forest Service personnel against special interests, generally environmentalists, the NEPA procedures have been used as a roadblock to taking considered, even urgent, action to protect the health of forests imperiled by disease or fire.47
In some cases, environmental groups have issued legal challenges to Forest Service NEPA procedures on an almost automatic basis. This has led to the perception among some Forest Service personnel that NEPA is a necessary evil. Under this view, NEPA documents are designed not to inform decisions or involve the public, but to withstand legal challenges.
…some groups have successfully used appeals to obstruct timber sales, and Forest Service employees therefore treat almost every ground-disturbing project as a potential target. They spend a tremendous amount of time trying to “bullet-proof” project planning against appeals and litigation. Challenges themselves, if they materialize, can be enormously time-consuming.48
It's only 49 pages, for some of you that's bathroom reading:p