Integrating State Environmental Policy Acts with Local Planning

Several states have environmental policy acts (SEPAs) that require an environmental review of certain types of proposed developments. Where state environmental policy acts exist, it is a challenge to integrate and coordinate their provisions with local comprehensive planning activities. Chapter 12 provides three approaches (see Table 12-1) and statutory alternatives (12–101) for evaluating the environmental effects of local comprehensive planning and problems of integrating SEPAs, where they exist, into local planning. Appendix B of this chapter provides a summary of SEPAs.