Addressing Climate Change in State and Local Environmental Review Policies

Project summary:

This research is focused on analyzing emerging state and local environmental review policies requiring consideration of climate change impacts. In the absence of federal action related to addressing climate change under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a number of local and state governments are exploring a range of policies intended to facilitate the consideration of the climate change impacts of a wide range of projects. The research will explore this first generation of policies, identifying policy requirements and recommendations. The research will also explore methods used to measure climate change impacts, approaches to documenting these impacts in environmental review documents, and efforts to document and respond to public and stakeholder perspectives on climate change.