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Indigenous Community Exclusion in U.S. Environmental Impact Assessments
Grote, Katie M.
Grote, Katie M.
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Abstract
The United States National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) intends for federal agencies to consider the adverse environmental impacts of a project before action. While NEPA and the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process have certainly resulted in some agencies making more environmentally conscious decisions, numerous cases indicate a phenomenon of inadequate consideration and adverse environmental and cultural impacts on Indigenous communities in the United States. Such cases suggest that Indigenous concerns are not heavily weighted in decision-making and, instead, input from Indigenous peoples is solicited to simply check the boxes of the NEPA procedural requirements. This dissertation explores the phenomenon of Indigenous community exclusion in EIAs through an illustrative case study structure. Using a latent content analysis approach, I study three case studies where Indigenous communities opposed infrastructure projects that they alleged would adversely impact their communities, including their culture, health, and the environment. The cases analyzed are, (1) the South Lawrence Trafficway construction through the Wakarusa Wetlands and its impacts on students and faculty of Haskell Indian Nations University, (2) the Dakota Access Pipeline construction beneath the Missouri River and through the unceded territory of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, and (3) the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration and its effect on Alaskan Natives, particularly the traditions and cultural values of the Gwich’in peoples. This dissertation produces three articles for publication, each exploring a specific flaw in the EIA process – authorship power, public participation, and environmental justice analyses – through theoretically and empirically grounded work.
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Date
2023-05-31
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University of Kansas
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Keywords
Native American studies, Environmental law, Environmental justice, environmental impact assessment, environmental justice, geopolitics, Indigenous, NEPA - National Environmental Policy Act, public participation