Webinar: Practical Improvements for Better Implementation of NEPA

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

WEBINAR ANNOUNCEMENT 

Practical Improvements for Better Implementation of NEPA

Date and Time: Wednesday, December 10, 2014, at 10:00 am PT
Duration: Event will last 90 minutes
Seattle: Anchor QEA (720 Olive Way, Suite 1900)

Following the 2013 Annual NAEP Conference, environmental practitioners, policy makers, and academics have been collaborating to make the case that improvement of the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process requires enhanced coordination among the project proponents, interested federal agencies, and important stakeholders.  Improved coordination and early vetting of the relevant environmental issues are key to identifying and resolving project flaws and to ensure that environmental impact studies are focused and that the process covers the full spectrum of permitting and review needs.  The December installment of the NAEP webinar will provide a summary of the key thoughts emerging from the relevant publication in the Environmental Practice journal and an upcoming summit meeting to be held in D.C. on December 2 and 3 on the same topic.  The summit is being dedicated to the memory and practice of Bill Cohen.  Although the limited timeframe provided by the webinar does not allow the full exploration of the issues that will happen at the 2-day summit, it will provide a summary of the key themes emerging from the relevant publication in the Environmental Practice journal and the summit, and highlight relevant topics for moving the discussion forward.

Mr. Ray Clark will serve as the moderator in the upcoming webinar on December 10, 2014.  Mr. Clark is the President of RiverCrossing Strategies.  He provides environmental and energy consulting services to local, federal agencies and tribes and private companies.  Ray also founded The Clark Group, a consortium of senior level science and policy professionals, who have worked at the highest level of government. Mr. Clark provided the keynote speech at the 2013 NAEP Annual Conference that culminated in the upcoming summit to improve the NEPA implementation process.  As moderator, Mr. Clark will highlight key points presented by each panelist and will motivate all participants to engage in a focused dialogue following each presentation.  December’s webinar panelists are Ronald Lamb, Horst Greczmiel, and David Mattern.  Mr. Lamb is co-chair of the NAEP NEPA Practice with over 25 years of experience in NEPA compliance and environmental policy.  He is also a NEPA Specialist at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Mr. Greczmiel has served as the Associate Director of NEPA Oversight on the Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) since 1999.  Mr. Mattern is a senior manager of multi-disciplinary environmental studies with more than 30 years’ experience, currently with Parametrix.  Mr. Mattern was a member of working groups sponsored by FHWA, AASHTO, and ACEC developing guidance on legal sufficiency and alternative formats for environmental documents and lectures nationally on techniques to improve environmental documents.