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2017 Spring | Education & Outreach, Natural Science & Restoration, Policy & Regulation

Ecosystem Goods and Services Environmental Assessments

Student(s):

Amber Sonka

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment
  • University of Washington

Site supervisor(s):

Bruce Duncan

Partner(s):

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10

Faculty advisor(s):

Ann Bostrom Professor of Environmental Policy, Evans School of Public Policy , University of Washington

I completed my project at Region 10 of the EPA and by conducting a literature review of internal EPA documents and published journal articles in the University of Washington Library Service. The EPA is planning to use Ecosystem Goods and Services-based assessments (EGS assessments) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in order to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of new federal projects. I created a primer and participated in a webinar series for EPA staff to explain the advantages of EGS assessments and answer questions that they have raised. I found that EGS assessments are the superior form of environmental assessment.