Revision of Army regulation (AR) 200-2, environmental effects of Army actions, and the application of total quality mangement (TQM) principles

AR 200-2 is the Army`s implementing regulation to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and DoD`s NEPA Directive DoDD 6050.1. AR 200-2 was last revised in the late 1980s and since then the scope of Army NEPA compliance activities have significantly increased, and NEPA practice and case law are continually changing. The purpose of revising AR 200-2 is to provide Army personel with clear and Concise guidance on how to meet their NEPA compliance requirements. The revision process included reviewing the current AR 200-2 to identify areas and topics needing clarification or modification; conferring with Army NEPA personnel to obtain views on NEPA compliance practices and procedures; conducting a review and analysis of significant, recent developments in NEPA case law; reviewing other federal NEPA implementing regulations to identify useful, transferrable concepts; preparing a {open_quotes}strawman{close_quotes} version of AR 200-2 to use as a starting point in the revision process; coordinating and consolidating input from the AR 200-2 Revisions Steering Committee; and responding to review comments. A draft version of AR 200-2 has been completed and informal Army-wide comments have been addressed. Some of the issues that the AR 200-2 Revisions Steering Committee considered during the revision effort included expanding the listmore » of categorical exclusions, determining the appropriate length for the public comment period for environmental assessments prior to approval of the finding of no significant impact, determining the appropriate level of analysis for Army actions abroad, and determining whether Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation Liability Act (CERCLA) or Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) actions should be addressed under NEPA. Total Quality Management (TQM) principles were applied during the revision process. GroupSystems{trademark} software was used as a vehicle to enhance total group participation from managers to practitioners.« less