About NEPAssist

NEPAssist is a tool that facilitates the environmental review process and project planning in relation to environmental considerations. The web-based application draws environmental data dynamically from EPA's Geographic Information System databases and web services and provides immediate screening of environmental assessment indicators for a user-defined area of interest. These features contribute to a streamlined review process that potentially raises important environmental issues at the earliest stages of project development.

For documentation on available data features, see Description of Map Features

For help using the tool, please see the NEPAssist help categories, found on the top of this page. If you still need assistance, please send an email to nepassisthelp@epa.gov

Top of page | Print Page | Close Window

Selecting a Study Area

To get started, please select the study area. Users may choose from many search options such as:

  • Address
  • Airport
  • ZIP code
  • City
  • County
  • State
  • Congressional District
  • Watershed
  • Coordinates
Select New Study Area

Search by:
Address

To search using an address, enter the address and click Search. A map centered on the address entered will be displayed.

Where possible, try using the following formats for addresses:
"Address, city, state" or "Address, city, ZIP"

Airport

To search by airport, enter the 3-letter airport code and click Search. A map centered on the airport selected will be displayed.

ZIP Code

To view spatial data by ZIP Code, enter a valid 5-digit United States Postal Service ZIP code in the text box provided and click Search. A map of the area for the ZIP code entered will be displayed.

City/State

To view spatial data by City or State, enter the corresponding city name or a United States Postal Service 2-letter state abbreviation in the text box provided and click Search. A map of the City or State entered will be displayed.

County

To view spatial data by county, please enter the county and state associated with the county in the text box provided and click Search. A map of the county entered will be displayed.

Congressional District

To search by congressional district:

  • Begin by typing “cd: ” in the "Enter New Study Area" box followed by the state abbreviation and the 2-digit U.S. congressional district or the name of the congressional official.  (Notice there is a space after the “:”).
  • Click the “Search” button to the right.
  • If you do not know the congressional district or full name of the official, a dropdown menu will appear with corresponding codes and names to choose from.
Search by Congressional District

Watershed

To search by watershed:

  • Begin by typing “watershed: ” in the "Enter New Study Area" box followed by the 8-digit USGS hydrologic unit code (HUC) or the watershed name.
  • Click the "Search" button to the right.
  • If you do not know the full 8-digit HUC or watershed name, a drop down menu will appear with corresponding codes and names to choose from.
Search by Watershed

Coordinates

To search by coordinates:

  • Begin by typing the coordinates of your desired destination into the "Enter New Study Area" box. Enter the coordinates with the latitude first followed by the longitude using a comma to separate the two. Example: 38.628676,-77.085226.
  • Click the search button on the right.

Using the Mapper Search Tool

Once you enter NEPAssist, you can use this tool to search for a new location using the same capabilities as above. For Congressional Districts, enter "cd: " and the district code or the name of the representative (Notice there is a space after the ":"). If you do not know either, just enter your state's abbreviation, and the program will offer suggestions to help. Similarly, for watersheds, type “watershed: ” followed by the 8-digit USGS hydrologic unit code (HUC) or the watershed name. Sometimes there may be several places with the same name, and the search will return a few suggestions to choose from.

Mapper Search Tool
Top of page | Print Page | Close Window

Viewing Map Features

Depending on the location you have selected to study, multiple map views may be available. All views are located along the toolbar at the top left corner of the map.

The map may be viewed in different dimensions. The following are available for each view:

  • 2D View the map in 2-dimensions. This is the standard view for the map.
  • 3D View the map in 3-dimensions. With the navigation control, you can view cities and streets from different heights and angles.

Depending on the selected study area, these views are available:

  • Road - This view will display a map with a traditional depiction of roads, parks, borders, bodies of water and more.

    Road Map View

  • Aerial - In this view, you will see a photo map of buildings and geographical features from space.

    aerial view

  • Bird's Eye - In this view, you will see a low angle, high resolution aerial map. In 3D mode, bird's eye images can be viewed in road and aerial views, with or without labels.

    birds eye view

  • Labels - In this view, you will see an overlay of street, highway, and landmark names that can be applied to the photo maps in aerial or bird's eye view.

    labels

    Map Features

    To view map features, first expand the category under the "Select Map Contents" box, then select the feature you wish to be applied to the map. Several features may be selected at once. You may need to expand the menu further to see the legend for that feature.

    Viewing Map Features

    Some things to note:

    • As you zoom in or out, some features, particularly demographics, become unavailable because they depend on the scale of the current map window. For example, when you zoom in on a single intersection, Population Density by State becomes unavailable. Likewise, when you zoom out to see the whole United States, Population Density by block, blockgroup, and census tract all become unavailable. When this happens, the option under "Select Map Contents" will be disabled and the feature will not be displayed on the map, even if it was selected before you zoomed in or out.

    • Also, as you zoom out, facilities that are close together become clustered. When you mouse over them, you will see a list of sites in the bunch and as you zoom in, the sites will begin to separate.

    • The order in which the layers are shown on the map will depend on the order in which they are added. Turn layers on/off to change the order in which they display on the map. If you zoom in or out, the order shown may change depending on the order in which the data is retrieved.
    Top of page | Print Page | Close Window

  • Description of Map Features

    Please note that clicking on the feature name in the legend will give you feature definitions and, in some cases, links to their sources.

    Sites Reporting to the EPA:
    • Hazardous Waste (RCRAInfo) hazardous waste icon - Hazardous waste is waste that is dangerous or potentially harmful to our health or the environment. Hazardous wastes can be liquids, solids, gases, or sludges. They can be discarded commercial products, like cleaning fluids or pesticides, or the by-products of manufacturing processes.
    • Air Emissions (AFS) air emissions icon - The Air Facility System (AFS) contains compliance and permit data for stationary sources regulated by EPA, state, and local air pollution agencies. States use AFS information to prepare State Implementation Plans (SIP) and track the compliance status of point sources with various regulatory programs under the Clean Air Act.
    • Water Dischargers (PCS) water discharger icon - As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating sources, such as municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities, that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. EPA tracks water discharge permits through the Permit Compliance System (PCS), which includes information on when a permit was issued and when it expires, how much the company is permitted to discharge, and the actual monitoring data showing what the company has discharged.
    • Toxic Releases (TRI) toxic releases icon - The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly available EPA database that contains information on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities reported annually by certain industries as well as federal facilities. The database also contains links to compliance and enforcement information.
    • Superfund (CERCLIS) superfund icon - Superfund is the Federal Government's program to clean up the nation's uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The National Priorities List (NPL) is the list of national priorities among the known or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants throughout the United States and its territories.
    • Brownfields (ACRES) brownfields icon - The Assessment, Cleanup, and Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES) captures grantee reported data on environmental activities and accomplishments (assessment, cleanup and redevelopment), funding, job training, and details on cooperative partners and leveraging efforts - a central objective of the Brownfields Program. The information in ACRES is provided at the property and grant level.
    • RADInfo RADInfo icon - The Radiation Information Database (RADInfo) contains information about facilities that are regulated by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for radiation and radioactivity. RADInfo uses EPA's current "Standard Data Elements For Facility Identification" approved on November 21, 2000. This State/EPA standard offers a common and consistent way to identify facilities of interest to the EPA.
    • Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) TSCA icon - The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 provides EPA with authority to require reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures. Certain substances are generally excluded from TSCA, including, among others, food, drugs, cosmetics and pesticides. TSCA addresses the production, importation, use, and disposal of specific chemicals including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, radon and lead-based paint.

    Top of page

    Water Monitoring Stations:

    • USGS Water Monitors (NWIS) usgs water monitors icon - The United States Geological Survey (USGS) water monitors layer is retrieved in real-time from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) website. The NWIS service provides current conditions from selected surface water, ground water, and water quality sites.
    • EPA Water Monitors (STORET) epa water monitoring icon - Water quality monitoring information comes from EPA's Storage and Retrieval (STORET) System, a repository of physical, chemical, and biological monitoring data from State and Federal agencies, watershed organizations, volunteer groups, and others. Surface water, Ground water, and Others are general categories for more specific STORET Station Types.

    Top of page

    Places (GNIS)

    Places are obtained from The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database. GNIS is a database that contains name and locational information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States and its territories. GNIS points in NEPAssist include:

    • Schools (school icon) Building or group of buildings used as an institution for study, teaching, and learning (e.g., academy, college, high school, university).
    • Hospitals (hospital icon) Building where the sick or injured may receive medical or surgical attention (e.g., infirmary, clinic).
    • Worship Places (worship place icon) Building used for religious worship (e.g., chapel, mosque, synagogue, tabernacle, temple).
    • National Register of Historic Places (National Register of Historic Places icon) The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation.

    Top of page

    Transportation

    • Airport Polygons (airport polygons) - Airport Polygons represent airport boundaries and airport runways within the United States. All airports have a boundary and most have at least one runway.
    • Airport Points (airport points) - The Airport points layer is public use airports extracted from The Public Use Airports database of the National Transportation Atlas Databases-2001(NTAD-2001), published by the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
    • Railroads (railroads) - Railroads are linear features representing the nation's railway system at a 1:100,000 scale. The railroads layer is produced by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and distributed as part of the National Transportation Atlas (NTAD). Note that, due to source differences and the inclusion of historical rail lines and rights of way, there may be differences in location and coverage between this layer and the railroads depicted in the Virtual Earth basemap layer.

    Non-attainment Areas

    In United States environmental law, a non-attainment area is an area considered to have air quality worse than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards as defined in the Clean Air Act. Non-attainment areas must have and implement a plan to meet the standard. An area may be a non-attainment area for one pollutant and an attainment area for others. NEPAssist includes non-attainment areas for Ozone 8-hour, Lead (Pb), Particulate Matter (PM2.5) 24-hour, and PM2.5 8-hour.

    • Ozone 8-hour (1997 standard)(ozone 8 hour icon) - Ozone (O3) is a gas composed of three oxygen atoms. Ground-level or "bad" ozone is not emitted directly into the air, but is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of sunlight. Emissions from industrial facilities and electric utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and chemical solvents are some of the major sources of NOx and VOC.
    • Lead (2008 standard)(lead (PB)) - Lead (Pb) is a metal found naturally in the environment as well as in manufactured products. The major sources of lead emissions have historically been from fuels in on-road motor vehicles (such as cars and trucks) and industrial sources. As a result of EPA's regulatory efforts to remove lead from on-road motor vehicle gasoline, emissions of lead from the transportation sector dramatically declined by 95 percent between 1980 and 1999, and levels of lead in the air decreased by 94 percent between 1980 and 1999. Today, the highest levels of lead in air are usually found near lead smelters. The major sources of lead emissions to the air today are ore and metals processing and piston-engine aircraft operating on leaded aviation gasoline.
    • PM2.5 Annual (1997 standard)(particulate matter pm 2.5 icon) -"Particulate matter," also known as particle pollution or PM, is a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets. Particle pollution is made up of a number of components, including acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles. "Fine particles," such as those found in smoke and haze, are 2.5 micrometers in diameter and smaller. These particles, known as PM 2.5, can be directly emitted from sources such as forest fires, or they can form when gases emitted from power plants, industries and automobiles react in the air. These areas exceed the 1997 annual design value for PM 2.5.
    • PM2.5 24-hour (2006 standard)(particulate matter pm 2.5 icon) -"Particulate matter," also known as particle pollution or PM, is a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets. Particle pollution is made up of a number of components, including acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles. "Fine particles," such as those found in smoke and haze, are 2.5 micrometers in diameter and smaller. These particles, known as PM 2.5, can be directly emitted from sources such as forest fires, or they can form when gases emitted from power plants, industries and automobiles react in the air. These areas exceed the 2006 24-hour design value for PM 2.5.
    Top of page

    Demographics 2000/2010

    Demographics 2000 data are from the 2000 U.S. Census of Population and Housing. Demographics 2010 data are from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-year Summary (ACS). The demographic elements are mapped using boundary layers (block, blockgroup, tract, county and state) derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's TIGER/Line 2000. The fields available are:

    • Population Density (People/sq mi) - Persons per square mile is computed by dividing the total population count by the land area in square miles. Available by block, by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • Per Capita Income - Per capita income is computed by dividing the collective income for all persons 15 years and over by the total population count within the area. Available by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • Minority (%) - Percent minority includes all races except non-Hispanic white persons. Available by block, by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • Below Poverty (%) - Percent below poverty is computed by dividing the sum of persons living below the poverty level by the number of persons for whom poverty status is determined. Available by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • Education < 12G (%) - The percentage of adults (18 years and older) who have not completed high school. Available by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • HS Diploma Only (%) - The percentage of adults (18 years and older) who have a high school diploma only. Available by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • College Degree (%) - The percentage of adults (18 years and older) who have a Bachelors degree or above. Available by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • Age < 18 years (%) - The percentage of population under 18 years old. Available by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • Homes pre-1950 (%) - The percentage of homes built before 1950. Available by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • Speak English < Well (%) - Percentage of population that speak English less than well is computed by dividing the sum of population speaking English less than well with the sum of population. Available by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • Female (%) - Percentage of female population is computed by dividing the female population by the total population. Available by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.
    • Rental Units (%) - Percentage of rental units is computed by dividing the number of rented housing units by the total number of occupied housing units. Available by blockgroup, by tract, by county, and by state.

    Top of page

    Water Features

    • Impaired Streams (impaired streams) - Streams that have excess pollutants and are not clean enough to support recreational uses.
    • Impaired Water Bodies (impaired water bodies) - Water Bodies that have excess pollutants and are not clean enough to support recreational uses.
    • Sole Source Aquifers (sole  source aquifers) - A sole or principal source aquifer as an aquifer that supplies at least 50 percent of the drinking water consumed in the area overlying the aquifer. These areas may have no alternative drinking water source(s) that could physically, legally and economically supply all those who depend on the aquifer for drinking water. For convenience, all designated sole or principal source aquifers are referred to as "sole source aquifers"(SSAs).
    • Streams (streams icon) - Streams are linear surface water features. The streams layer is based on the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) 1:100,000 scale streams network.
    • Water Bodies (water bodies icon) - Water bodies are area surface features such as ponds, lakes and wide rivers. The water bodies layer is from U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2000.
    • Watershed (HUC12) (watershed (HUC12)) - - Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC) are used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to catalog bodies of water. Selecting this feature will highlight the boundaries of each watershed.

    Note that streams, water bodies, and watersheds are dependent on the map scale. You may need to zoom in to see them.

    Boundaries

    • Congressional Districts (congressional district) - A congressional district is an electoral constituency that elects a single member of a congress. A congressional district is based on population, which in the United States is determined by taking a census every ten years.
    • City Boundaries (city boundaries) - City boundaries are derived from the 2000 Census TIGER/Line data. These boundaries include incorporated cities and census designated places.
    • Federal Lands (By Agency: No Data No data legend, BIA BIA legend, BLM BLM legend, BOR BOR legend, DOD DOD legend, FS FS legend, FWS FWS legend, NPS NPS legend, OTHER Other legend, TVA TVA legend) - Federal Lands are any land other than tribal lands that are controlled or owned by the United States, including lands selected by but not yet conveyed to Alaska Native Corporations and groups organized pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. This feature is downloaded from the USGS.
    • Zip Codes (zip codes) - Zip codes are numbers that identify each postal delivery area in the United States. The zip code boundaries feature is provided by TeleAtlas, 2008.
    • Counties (counties) - The Counties feature portrays the county boundaries of the United States. A county is the largest territorial division for local government within a state in the United States. This map feature is downloaded from the U.S. Census Bureau.
    • States (states) - State boundaries are derived from 2000 Census TIGER/Line generalized boundaries for state and state equivalent areas.
    • EPA Regions ( Region 1 Region 1 legend, Region 2 Region 2 legend, Region 3 Region 3 legend, Region 4 Region 4 legend, Region 5 Region 5 legend, Region 6 Region 6 legend, Region 7 Region 7 legend, Region 8 Region 8 legend, Region 9 Region 9 legend, Region 10 Region 10 legend) - EPA Administrative Region boundaries derived from State boundaries
    • Townships (townships) - This data set portrays the Public Land Surveys of the United States, including areas of private survey, Donation Land Claims, and Land Grants and Civil Colonies. It is intended for geographic display and analysis at the national level, and for large regional areas. The data should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:2,000,000-scale data.

    Top of page

    USA Topo Map

    This map presents land cover imagery for the world and detailed topographic maps for the United States. The map includes the National Park Service (NPS) Natural Earth physical map at 1.24km per pixel for the world at small scales, i-cubed eTOPO 1:250,000-scale maps for the contiguous United States at medium scales, and National Geographic TOPO! 1:100,000 and 1:24,000-scale maps (1:250,000 and 1:63,000 in Alaska) for the United States at large scales. The TOPO! maps are seamless, scanned images of United States Geological Survey (USGS) paper topographic maps.

    Top of page

    National Land Cover 2006

    Land cover is the physical material at the surface of the earth. Land covers include grass, asphalt, trees, bare ground, water, etc. Land cover is distinct from land use despite the two terms often being used interchangeably. Land use is a description of how people utilize the land and socioeconomic activity - urban and agricultural land uses are two of the most commonly recognized high-level classes of use. The land cover color scheme may seem slightly different in the map versus in the legend because the map feature has been made transparent for easier viewing when overlaying with other data sets.

    Soil Survey Map

    USDA/NRCS SSURGO: This layer shows the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) by the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

    Top of page

    National Wetlands Inventory Wetlands

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is the principal Federal agency that provides information to the public on the extent and status of the Nation's wetlands. The Service's strategic plan for our vast national wetland data holdings is focused on the development, updating, and dissemination of wetlands data and information to Service resource managers and the public. The development of the Wetlands Master Geodatabase is in direct response to the need to integrate digital map data with other resource information to produce timely and relevant management and decision support tools. Wetlands provide a multitude of ecological, economic and social benefits. They provide habitat for fish, wildlife and a variety of plants. Wetlands are nurseries for many saltwater and freshwater fishes and shellfish of commercial and recreational importance. Wetlands are also important landscape features because they hold and slowly release flood water and snow melt, recharge groundwater, act as filters to cleanse water of impurities, recycle nutrients, and provide recreation and wildlife viewing opportunities for millions of people.

    Top of page

    FEMA Flood

    Q3 Flood Hazards

    Q3 Flood Hazards layer is portraying an older set of flood hazard data when data for areas which flood hazard data are not available from the National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL).

    Flood Hazard Zones

    Flood hazard areas are defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The 1-percent annual chance flood is also referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood. Special Flood Hazard Areas(SFHAs) are labeled as Zone A, Zone AO, Zone AH, Zones A1-A30, Zone AE, Zone A99, Zone AR, Zone AR/AE, Zone AR/AO, Zone AR/A1-A30, Zone AR/A, Zone V, Zone VE, and Zones V1-V30. Moderate flood hazard areas, labeled Zone B or Zone X (shaded) are also shown on the FIRM, and are the areas between the limits of the base flood and the 0.2-percent-annual-chance (or 500-year) flood. The areas of minimal flood hazard, which are the areas outside the Flood Hazard area and higher than the elevation of the 0.2-percent-annual-chance flood, are labeled Zone C or Zone X (unshaded).

    Top of page | Print Page | Close Window

    Identifying Map Features

    In NEPAssist, you can identify additional information on map features using the following methods:

    To use the Identify Tool

    For the following map features use the identify tool button to gain additional information:

    • Transportation
    • Water Features
    • Non-attainment Areas
    • Boundaries
    • Demographics
    • Soil Survey
    • National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) Wetlands

    1. First click the (identify button) button to open the Identify Tool.
    2. Click on the radio button (Selecting a Radio Button) of the data feature you want to identify in the Map Contents. The following features can be selected for identification: Transportation, Water Features, Non-attainment Areas, Boundaries, Demographics, Soil Survey, and National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) Wetlands.

      Using the Identity Tool
    3. In the Identify Tool window, there are three options: point, rectangle, and custom area.
      • Point - you can click on the data feature you want to identify on the map. Doing so will provide detailed information on the data feature selected.
      • Rectangle – drawing a rectangle will allow you to identify multiple data features on the map. For example: if you want to identify multiple schools, you can draw a rectangle around the schools that you would like to identify. Detailed information will be provided for all the data features selected on the map.
      • Custom area - you can draw a custom shape on the map as well. To do so, left-click at each corner of the shape and right click at the last one. If the shape is not closed, it will automatically connect the first and last corners.

    Identifying Additional Information on Map Features

    For the remaining map features such as EPA facilities, water monitoring stations and places, NEPAssist can generate or link to many different reports throughout EPA's databases. Listed below is an example of how to generate the reports.

  • To view a facility report for any facility reporting to the EPA, first turn on the appropriate data feature for the type of facility (e.g., TRI, PCS). When you mouse-over the facility, it will tell you the type of facility and provide a link to the Envirofacts report for the specific category. From here, you can find information about permitting, inspections and violations, cleanup history for Superfund sites, demographics, compliance history and watershed for this site. Mousing over a site on the map also provides a link to the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) report for the facility.

      Top of page| Print Page | Close Window

    • Define Report Area

      You can draw an area and then generate a detailed environmental report for that area. Using this tool, you can draw a point, line, area, or rectangle. You can also specify a buffer area radius (e.g., go 1 mile out in all directions) for which the report will be generated.(Note: You need to change the buffer before you generate the report or the default radius will be used.)

    • Start by opening the Define Report area dialog box by clicking the Draw (draw) button on the left.
    • To start with a point, click the (point) button.
      1. Next, click a point on the map that you want to define. Give it a name and a description, then click "Continue".
      2. You can specify a radius around the point you want to include in the reports by mousing over the point and entering a value where it asks for the buffer. The default is 0.5 miles.
    • To draw a line, click the (draw line) button.
      1. For each click on the map, a corner or vertex is added and the line can change direction. Right-click to end drawing. Give it a name and a description, the click "Continue".
      2. You can specify a radius around the line you want to include in the reports by mousing over the line and entering a value where it asks for the buffer. The default is 0.5 miles.
    • To draw an area, click the (draw area) button.
      1. For each left-click, a vertex is added. When you are ready, right click to set the last vertex. You must have at least three vertices. Give the shape a name and a description, then click "Continue".
      2. You can specify a radius around the area you want to include in the reports by mousing over the area and entering a value where it asks for the buffer. The default is 0.0 miles.
    • When you mouse-over a defined report area, you will see two more options in addition to the buffer setting: NEPAssist Report and Delete. Delete will remove the digitized feature from the map. NEPAssist Report will generate the reports.
        define report area

        Top of page | Print Page | Close Window

      • NEPAssist Report

        To generate a report using NEPAssist, you must first draw your project area on the map. For more information on drawing your project area see Define Report Area. Once you have drawn your project area, established a buffer and given it a name, mouse over the drawn area to show the project description window. From there you can click on the NEPAssist Report button located in the project description window.


        Define Report Area – Point, Line, Polygon Examples

        Once you click on the NEPAssist Report button, a report will be generated based on environmental data available specific to your project area. Information in the report will be displayed as a series of questions with yes or no answers based on the location of your project area. The report questions are drawn from publicly available datasets available through EPA databases and web services. The National Report is drawn from nationally available datasets and the State Reports are drawn from datasets available through the EPA Regions. Click on a hyperlinked question to view the data source and associated metadata. If your project area crosses multiple states, NEPAssist will provide a consolidated report containing available information on the multi-state project area.

        line, pin and poly examples

        To gain additional information regarding particular questions, please click on the yes or no answer associated with that question. In a separate window, the project area map and selected question will appear with additional information, including the ability to change the buffer around the point, line or area you included in the initial report. For example: If based on your project area the initial answer to "your project area is within 1 mile of a Brownfields site" was yes; you can click on yes and see additional information such as the name and distance of the Brownfields site within 1 mile of your project area as well as change the buffer around your project area to see additional Brownfields sites if applicable.


        examples of drill downs

        NEPAssist also links to another EPA tool, EJ View, to generate detailed reports based on the geographic areas and data sets. To access EJ View through NEPAssist, click on the "Link to EJView Report" button Link to EJView Report button at the bottom of the NEPAssist report.

        Top of page | Print Page | Close Window

        Understanding the Data

        The NEPAssist application draws and displays environmental data from many locations and sources to easily provide access to this information in one place.

        Metadata

        Each mapping layer and report question in the NEPAssist application is supported by metadata that can be viewed in the data description window.

        View Metadata View Metadata

        Metadata describes the contents and context of the data files, including the source, the date the data was generated, accuracy, and projections. When accessing information in NEPAssist, the data file and corresponding metadata need to be referenced by the user. Do not reference the NEPAssist application directly because data layers within NEPAssist are continually updated and refreshed when more current data is available.

        For example: If you have a hazardous waste site in your project area, cite the EPA Envirofacts database, and the last data retrieval date from the EPA source database, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Information (RCRAInfo) System.

        Data Source, Date, and Metadata Example

        Top of page | Print Page | Close Window

        Printing

        To print your map, click the Print print button button.

        This creates a new window with three sections:

        • A map title at the top. To edit the title, click in the title area and type your own descriptive title.
        • The map, including a scale bar.
        • A map legend is on the right.

        Use your browser's print function to send the map to a printer.

        Print page with text directions

        Usage Note: Some layers may not appear in the printout of your map. Currently there are limitations using the Print tool. The NEPAssist mapper layers are provided by multiple map services. It uses transparency properties to display layers from multiple services. Browsers can interpret transparency in HTML documents, however printers cannot interpret the transparency properties for display purposes. The result is that only the top layer will be visible on the printed page.

        Alternate print method: If the resulting printout is insufficient for your use, please press ALT-PrintScreen (for PC users) to capture the image, and CTRL-V to paste it into an editor for presentation.



        Top of page | Print Page | Close Window