Editing Environmental science (section)

==Regulations driving the studies==
[[File:Glen Canyon Dam & Lake Powell.jpg|thumb|alt=Image of the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell behind it|Environmental science examines the effects of humans on nature, such as the [[Glen Canyon Dam]] in the United States]]
In the United States the [[National Environmental Policy Act]] (NEPA) of 1969 set forth requirements for analysis of federal government actions (such as highway construction projects and land management decisions) in terms of specific environmental criteria.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Citizen's Guide to the National Environmental Policy Act |url=https://ceq.doe.gov/get-involved/citizens_guide_to_nepa.html |date=2007 |publisher=U.S. Council on Environmental Quality |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> Numerous state laws have echoed these mandates, applying the principles to local-scale actions. The upshot has been an explosion of documentation and study of environmental consequences before the fact of development actions.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

One can examine the specifics of environmental science by reading examples of [[Environmental Impact Statement]]s prepared under NEPA such as: ''Wastewater treatment expansion options discharging into the San Diego/[[Tijuana]] [[Estuary]]'', ''Expansion of the [[San Francisco International Airport]]'', ''Development of the [[Houston]], Metro Transportation system'', ''Expansion of the metropolitan [[Boston]] MBTA transit system'', and ''Construction of [[Interstate 66]] through [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington, Virginia]]''.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

In England and Wales the [[Environment Agency]] (EA),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Environment Agency|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency|access-date=2021-05-12|website=GOV.UK|language=en}}</ref> formed in 1996, is a public body for protecting and improving the environment and enforces the regulations listed on the communities and local government site.<ref>{{cite web |title=Communities and Local Government: Environment |url=http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1503251 |publisher=Ministry of communities & Local Government, UK |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070812001715/http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1503251 |archive-date=2007-08-12}}</ref> (formerly the office of the deputy prime minister). The agency was set up under the [[Environment Act 1995]] as an independent body and works closely with UK Government to enforce the regulations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jewell |first1=Tim |last2=Steele |first2=Jenny |title=UK Regulatory Reform and the Pursuit of "Sustainable Development": The Environment Act 1995 |journal=Journal of Environmental Law |date=1996 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=283–300 |doi=10.1093/jel/8.2.283 |jstor=44248083 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44248083 |access-date=18 February 2025}}</ref>