Los Alamos National Laboratory Trails Management Program earned Environmental Excellence Award for environmental stewardship.
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance
June 2, 2016
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The NAEP Board of Directors presented nine Environmental Excellence Awards for significant achievements in environmental practice.
The 2016 Environmental Stewardship Excellence Award went to DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Trails Management Program. The use of trails at LANL is one of the benefits of working and living in Los Alamos County, New Mexico. There was no DOE or LANL policy or mechanism, however, to balance recreational trails use on LANL property with environmental, cultural, safety, security, and operational concerns. In 2003, DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) directed LANL to establish such a program and issued an EA, finding of no significant impact, and mitigation action plan.
The LANL Trails Management Program is implemented through individual projects, including measures for planning, repair and construction, environmental protection, safety, security, and end-state conditions assessments. Mitigation commitments include determining appropriate closures and restrictions, and supporting the use of volunteers for trail maintenance projects. The Trails Working Group – representatives of LANL, neighboring jurisdictions, and other stakeholders – has met regularly for 13 years to provide guidance and to integrate trail management decisions across jurisdictional boundaries.
State Review Wins NEPA Award
The 2016 NEPA Excellence Award recognized a California Department of Food and Agriculture program environmental impact report (PEIR) for the Statewide Plant Pest Prevention and Management Program . The PEIR constitutes the program’s compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and covers a broad range of activities, including pesticide use, trapping surveys, promulgation of quarantine regulations, and rapid response eradication measures. The PEIR’s comprehensive human health and ecological risk assessments evaluate hundreds of pest management scenarios, said NAEP’s award citation, and incorporate science-based mitigation measures to protect the public, agricultural workers, and the environment. A CEQA tiering strategy allows the efficient incorporation of new technologies and activities as they become available.