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Learn About the National Environmental Policy Act
For a full list of courses for 2013 and to download registration materials please check our website:
EPP 751 - NEPA: Overview and Refresher
Date: February 20, 2013
“If you work for the Federal Government or your projects receive any federal funding, you need to understand and know how to work with NEPA.” The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the most important environmental law in the United States. This workshop will cover the procedural requirement of NEPA and the information that must be included in environmental impact documents. The course will address Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Categorical Exclusions (CATEXs) This class is for anyone dealing with NEPA, including agency regulators, engineers, scientists, consultants, planners, and attorneys.
You will benefit by learning:
- The fundamentals of NEPA
- NEPA’s legal and regulatory framework
- How to determine when NEPA applies
- Using CATEX's
- How to prepare Environmental Assessments (EA's), and Findings of No Significant Impacts
- Determining when an EIS must be prepared
- The importance of “purpose and need” and “alternatives“
- The key topics to include in an EIS
- How to prepare adequate, defensible, and useful environmental documents
- The current standards of judicial review, and
- How to integrate NEPA with other federal, state, and local requirements and permits.
- Common NEPA mistakes and how to avoid them
Time: 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM
Location: Portland State University
Instructor: Ronald Bass, Coauthor of The NEPA Book, A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Comply with the National Environmental Policy Act; and Chis Moelter
Fee: $250.00
Available Professional Credit: 0.8 CEU, 8 PDH
Academic Credit: None
Ronald Bass, JD, AICP
Ronald Bass is a Senior Regulatory Specialist with ICF International firm specializing in environmental planning and natural resource management. Bass has a professional and academic background in environmental law and planning. He has participated in a broad variety of planning and environmental studies under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and other state environmental policy acts. Bass’ NEPA experience includes managing, and preparing NEPA documents. Additionally he provides strategic advice on NEPA implementation, NEPA “peer” review, and issue resolution for federal and other agencies.
Bass is coauthor of THE NEPA BOOK: A Step-By-Step Guide on How to Comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, and The CEQA DESK BOOK: A Step-By-Step Guide on How to Comply with the California Environmental Quality Act. He has also written numerous articles about the practical implementation of NEPA and other planning topics. He serves on the editorial board of theCalifornia Environmental Law Reporter, published by Mathew Bender & Co. Inc. In this capacity, he writes commentaries on NEPA cases decided by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Mr. Bass is a frequent speaker at professional workshops on environmental impact assessment and land use planning, including NEPA courses for Portland State University and the Oregon Law Institute at Lewis & Clark Law School.Bass has served as president of the Association of Environmental Professionals (California) and the California Chapter of the American Planning Association. In October 1993, the California Chapter recognized him with the Distinguished Leadership Award for his contribution to the planning profession. He is a two-time recipient of a U.S. Fulbright Scholar grant under which he taught environmental law in Slovenia and Barbados.
Bass received a J.D. from the Washington College of Law at American University, Washington D.C.; an M.A. in environmental planning from California State University, Sacramento; and a B.A. in Anthropology from Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. He is admitted to practice law in Washington D.C. and Maryland.
EPP 753 - Environmental Planning, Permitting, and Project Management
Date: February 21, 2013
“Project managers don’t like costly surprises, especially regulatory surprises!”
This course should not only help prevent regulatory surprises, but teach you to coordinate your planning so that you may integrate all your permits at the planning stage, identify environmentally superior alternatives, develop realistic project schedules, and ultimately reduce costs.
Many projects trigger the need for multiple environmental permits and certifications that require similar information and involve parallel permitting schedules. This one-day course will focus on the most common environmental permitting issues and how to integrate federal, state, and local environmental regulations and permits into a “no-surprises” project plan. Emphasis will be on providing the resources and information needed to conduct a preliminary constraints analysis, understanding the various permitting processes and how they relate to one another, and the importance of early and frequent coordination with the appropriate resource agencies.
The course presents regulatory constraints in a graphic, geography-based manner utilizing case studies to illustrate the planning and permitting process. The primary regulations covered include local land use, the Clean Water Act (wetlands and water quality), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and others. As examples of local regulations, e.g., Oregon’s wetland removal/fill law and Statewide Planning Goals will be covered briefly.
This course is designed for professionals faced with projects that are potentially constrained by natural resource issues, permitting schedules, and connections to natural resource functions and values. It is particularly important for land managers, regulators, environmental planers, and civil engineers, landscape architects, and contractors.
This course does not cover any one of the regulations in exhaustive detail. As a planning methodology, it will provide a basis for understanding common regulatory integration issues.
Instructor: Shane Latimer, Ph.D., Ecologist/ Environmental Planner, Latimer Environmental LLC
Time: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Location: Portland, OR
Fee: $250.00
Fee Includes: Instruction, course material, manual
Available Professional Credit: 0.8 CEU, 8 PDH
Academic Credit: None
Shane Latimer, Ph.D. CSE, Latimer Environmental LLC
Shane is an environmental planner with over 20 years experience in environmental assessment, planning and permitting. He specializes in projects that are often large, complex, or controversial, often involving a combination of land use, environmental permitting, and other constraints. His projects typically involve issues related to site evaluation and constraints analysis, wetlands, water quality, the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
During the last 17 years, Shane has developed a line of services related specifically to planning, permitting, and implementing projects that challenge the built-natural environment interface, including landfills, mines, sewage treatment facilities, and similar developments. Shane has a solid understanding of engineering concepts and practices and is adept at working collaboratively with engineering professionals to ensure optimum balance between environmental and engineering constraints. These projects often require careful assessments of alternatives, impacts, and opportunities (including value engineering), as well as ensuring that the project and the associated public process (e.g., NEPA, local land use, etc.) is technically well supported.
Shane develops and teaches environmental permitting and compliance workshops for professionals, including environmental project management, NEPA, wetlands, water quality, and endangered species.
An Oregon native, Shane received his bachelor’s degree from Southern Oregon University in 1989 and his Ph.D. from Tulane University (New Orleans) in 1994. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in environmental toxicology at Tulane in 1995.
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