National Environmental Policy Act

Law

1. established a national Council on Environmental Quality to oversee government activities that could affect the environment and required federal agencies to file environmental impact statements before taking any major action. The law was intended to help “maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony” and, as such, has been labeled by the courts an “environmental full disclosure law.” It has often been left to the courts to rule on the accuracy of impact statements that have been contested by environmental or neighborhood groups.