Since the signing of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on January 1, 1970, eighteen states have initiated their own programs of compre-hensive environmental review. These State Environ-mental Policy Acts (SEPA's), or "NEPA equivalents," &re generally patterned after the policies, goals, and processes established by NEPA but, at the same time, demonstrate a great deal of variability in terms of extent as well as style of implementation. They are "equivalent," however, in the sense that they all utilize a similar tool--the environmental impact statement (EIS).
This book focuses on the eighteen states which have established their own environmental impact statement (EIS) requirements through legislation, executive order, or administrative action. It examines the costs associated with the EIS process and suggests ways of making the overall process effective.
