ABSTRACT
Many countries and U.S. states followed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) model by developing their own environmental policy statements, enabling legislation, and ultimately introducing regulations to address the growing environmental concerns. All of these programs drew from the NEPA experience to some degree, sometimes embracing the concepts, and at other times rejecting some of the components, but always considering NEPA and adapting to local situations. Presented below are example programs for several countries and two states with well-developed comprehensive programs and long histories. The summaries are presented in part as comparisons to NEPA, reflecting the history of development and “lessons learned.” Also, once you are familiar with NEPA, after assimilating Chapters 1 through 7 of this book, a description of other programs in relation to the first and most mature program is more meaningful.
