Question

Please no copy and paste.

Select a Homeland Security Policy/Law either at the federal or state level; detail the policy, the goal of the policy and do you believe it has been or will be effective.

Answer 1

Let us consider National Environmental Policyt Act (NEPA) 1969 as the subject under study.

What is NEPA?

Nepa is an Act to establish a national policy for the environment, to provide for the establishmnet of a council on Environment quality and for other purposes.

The main purpose of this acat was to declare a national policy which indeed encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between the man and his surrounding environment in which they live and interact with. It aims at preventing any kind of damage to the environment and the ecosystem and to look of the welfare of the man by speading awareness about the environment amongst people.

The actions covered by NEPA is braod and includes

• Decision taking on permit applications
• Adopting federal land management actions and
• Constructing highways and other publicly-owned facilities

The Federal Agencies carry out NEPA Requirements, the following way

1. Lead Agency: Usually more than a single feral body is involved in a proposed action. In this situation, a lead agency is designated to supervise the preparation of the environmental analysis. Hence federal agencies, together with state, tribal or local agencies, will act a joint lead agencies.

2. Cooperating Agency: A federal, state, tribal or local agency having special expertise with respect to environmental issues will act as cooperating agency. They are responsible for

• Assist the lead agency
• participate in the scoping process
• Information development and prepare environmental analysis
• Staff support

3. CEQ referrals: Council on Environmental quality oversees the Office of Federal Sustainability which assists Federal agencies in advancinhg energy and environmental sustainability and meeting statutory requirements.

The goals of the policy are as follows:

• Fulfill the responsibilities of each generation as trustee of the environment for succeeding generations
• Assure for all American safe, healthful, productive, and aesthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings
• Attain the widest range of beneficial uses of the environment without degradation, risk to health or safety, or other undesirable and unintended consequences
• Preserve important historical, cultural, and natural aspects of national heritage and maintain an environmnet that supports diversity, and variety of individual choice
• Achive balance between population and resources used
• Enhance the quality of renewable resources and approach the maximum attainable recycling of depletable resources

The initiatives taken by the NEPA over the years has been successful with lot many success stories to be told and which are all over the internet for refernce. So definitely I conclude it to be a success even though there are few failure cases attached to it in the past. Few notable examples are Preserving a historical Brick Highway, Los Alamos Wildfire, Protecting drinking water from Uranium Mill wastes, Hells Canyon Comprehensive Management Plan, Klamath National Forest Project etc..