Note: IdAEP will host this event for IdAEP 'Chapter Only Members' at no charge. The cost for non-IdAEP members is $10.00

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This webinar will mirror the Case Law presentation provided during the NAEP 2022 Conference & Training Symposium, with updates as warranted. The webinar panel is based on a paper that reviews substantive National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) cases issued by the United States Courts of Appeals in 2021. The implications of the decisions and their relevance to NEPA practitioners will be explained. This webinar will summarize the more detailed paper prepared for the 2022 Conference session.

The paper briefly explains, with an emphasis on the substantive NEPA findings, each opinion issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals. The paper identifies statistics regarding the NEPA appellate opinions, such as a thirteen-year record of NEPA cases, organized by circuit, and by year. The paper also identifies the agencies involved in each case and presents statistics relevant to the agencies; the paper further identifies the prevailing ratio of federal agencies, including by agency and by document type (categorical exclusion, environmental assessment, environmental impact statement). The paper analyzes the trends in the court opinions involving NEPA for 2021, with an emphasis on substantive NEPA practice, and by grouping of the cases.

Finally, each court opinion is paraphrased and organized in a manner easy to read for practitioners to find the court’s ruling. Appellate opinions are grouped and analyzed by agency. Past trends include challenges to purpose and need, alternatives considered, public comment, scientific impact assessment methodologies, GHG emissions and climate change impact assessment, incomplete or unavailable information, determination of significance, segmentation, duty to supplement, connected actions, federal actions, cumulative impact assessment, mitigation, monitoring, and adaptive management. 

Please join us for the popular webinar offering.

Moderator

Fred Wagner, NAEP Elected At-Large Board Member

Partner

Venable LLP

Speakers

P.E. "Pam" Hudson, Esq.

NAVFAC SW

Department of the Navy Office of General Counsel

Michael Smith, Ph.D.

National Practice Leader, Environmental Process and Policy

WSP USA