Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) News

Southwest Research Institute^® to offer short course on U.S. environmental policy

San Antonio, Texas – November 12, 2002 – Southwest Research Institute (SwRI®) will host a short course on national environmental law, with an emphasis on impact assessment.

The three-day course, titled, "Review of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Documents," will be held November 19-21 at the SwRI video teleconference center. The registration fee is $750 per person.

"Each year, federal, state, and local agencies develop thousands of reports to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with a wide range of activities," said David R. Turner, a principal scientist in the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses, an SwRI division that has performed numerous studies related to a proposed national high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as well as other nuclear materials processing facilities.

As environmental issues become more complex, critical evaluation of the quality of environmental reports, as well as the analyses that support them, will become vital for those who make decisions that may affect the environment.

"In the past few years, the Institute has increasingly been involved in environmental impact assessment, conducting reviews and preparing environmental documents and reports. We believe the environmental impact assessment community can benefit from that experience through this short course," Turner said.

Persons who are or will be involved in the procedural and/or substantive review of NEPA documents, and persons responsible for contracting with internal or external reviewers of specific documents, will benefit from attending the course.

For more information about the course or for e-mail registration, see NEPAshortcourse.swri.org, or contact Turner at (210) 522-2139 or dturner@swri.org.

For more information, contact Joe Fohn, Communications, (210) 522-4630, Fax (210) 522-3547, PO Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510.