Records and Reports

The North Carolina Environmental Policy Act of 1971 (G.S. 113A 1-13), also known as the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), declares a state policy which is designed to maintain and protect the state’s environment. The statute requires state agencies to the fullest extent possible to identify significant environmental effects of their actions and to implement measures to minimize negative effects. This Act followed the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969.

To meet the requirements of SEPA and NEPA, agencies develop environmental documents identifying potential impacts of proposed projects. These documents are then made available for public and intergovernmental review and comment. The SEPA compliance process has, since its inception, been administered by the Department of Administration (DOA). All SEPA, and many NEPA, environmental documents for proposed projects that would affect North Carolina are submitted to the State Environmental Review Clearinghouse.

For the first few years of SEPA implementation, the State Environmental Review Clearinghouse kept track of all environmental documents on index cards. Then, information was entered in computers and printouts served as logs of the documents submitted. Starting in January 1997, the State Environmental Review Clearinghouse began using a database to record information about the documents submitted for public and intergovernmental review. This database is updated as new documents are submitted and review timeframes close. In addition, it is used to generate the Environmental Bulletin, a listing of all environmental documents currently under review. The database-generated spreadsheet below lists basic information about the environmental documents reviewed through the Clearinghouse process.

Documents