(University of Oregon School of Law, 2023-04-28) Hudson, Scott
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the seminal environmental statute, providing the aspirational goal of a national environmental policy and a comprehensive environmental regulatory framework. Over the past five decades, however, Congress, the courts, and administrative agencies have limited NEPA with exemptions and exceptions. This paper evaluates the Functional Equivalence Doctrine and argues that this NEPA exception is contrary to the text, congressional intent, and goals of NEPA and is therefore illegal.
