“Geospatial NEPA” is designed to facilitate access and information sharing by aggregating NEPA documents and geospatial data in a map-based data system. ELI is developing the concept and drafted a report on approaches, policies, and possibilities for this new vision of NEPA review.
As the pilot map displayed below demonstrates, it is a map-based data system aimed at making environmental assessment more efficient and effective. As conceived, a basic function of a Geospatial NEPA system would be to map the footprints of agency actions that are the subject of NEPA documents, provide summary information about the actions, and provide direct links to NEPA documents. Geospatial NEPA could make difficult-to-find and dense NEPA documents more useful to the public and decision-makers, resulting in better management decisions for the ocean environment and for coastal communities.
Geospatial NEPA
The pilot map was developed with support from Scripps Institution of Oceanography graduate students, Justin Garver and Jennifer McWhorter.
These webpages are meant as an intro to our Ocean Team’s work on Geospatial NEPA. Important issues regarding Geospatial NEPA include: