Charles H. Eccleston

Charles H. Eccleston is an American author, consultant and lecturer in US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Dr. Eccleston has received many awards including the National Association of Environmental Professional’s (NAEP) Outstanding Achievement Award (2001), the NAEP's Outstanding Environmental Leadership Award (2010).^[1] and his college's Outstanding Alumni Award. He is listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who in America as one of the leading authorities on preparing Environmental Impact Statements and the NEPA.^[2][3] He has written 10 books and authored over 70 environmental and scientific publications. His books are used by professionals and in university curriculum. His recent works include: The EIS Book,^[4] NEPA and Environmental Planning,^[5] Global Environmental Policy,^[6] Inside Energy,^[7] and Preparing NEPA Environmental Assessments.^[8] He developed a suite of peer-reviewed tools and techniques for improving and streamlining NEPA. Many of these tools are used by government agencies and in legal cases:

• Sufficiency Test: Tool for systematic determining “how much” information is sufficient to adequately describe a NEPA topic.^[9]

• P-EIS Scoping (P-EIS) Tool: Method for determining the appropriate scope of a programmatic EIS.^[10]

• Smithsonian Solution Tool: Systematic technique for determining how much an action can be changed before it triggers supplemental NEPA.^[11]

• Integrated NEPA/ISO 14001 EMS: Developed first model for integrating NEPA with an ISO 14001 EMS.^[12][13] Integrated EIA & EMS for Shell Houdini ECC Project

• Decision-Based Scoping (DBS): Technique for determining appropriate scope of an EIS.^[14]

• Decision Identification Tree (DIT): Tool for identifying decision points in a DBS process.^[15]

• Non-Federal Assessment Tool: Tool for determining when an action is a “federal” action.^[16]

• Significant Departure Principle (SDP): Technique for resolving the Cumulative Impact Paradox (CIP).^[17]

• The Sphinx Scale: Technique for assessing cumulative significance.^[18]

• Cumulatively Significant Greenhouse Emissions Assessment: Technique for determining cumulative significance of greenhouse gas emissions.^{[19] [20]}Also, Assessing Cumulative Significance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Resolving The Paradox—The Sphinx Solution

He was an employee of the United States Energy Department,^[21] and later worked at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Eccleston charged that to minimize public concern and opposition, NRC management had intentionally mislead the public by dismissing significant nuclear safety and environmental issues in the EISs prepared for re-licensing the nation’s fleet of nuclear power reactors; specifically, NRC management stated that the risk posed by a nuclear accident, such as a full-scale meltdown, was so small that the agency could dismiss the issue from further analysis. Using the Risk-Uncertainty Test,^[22] Eccleston concluded that such a sweeping assertion was scientifically indefensible, particularly given the Three Mile Island^[23], Chernobyl^[24], and the Fukushima^[25] accidents. Another finding was that NRC management concealed the risk posed to the nation at large by disregarding one of the fundamental EIS requirements to compute the cumulative impact;^[26] this misrepresenting the actual the risk by approximately two orders of magnitude (100 times).^{[27][28][29][30] [31]} A special Washington State Legislature Nuclear Power Task corroborated his allegations in a section of their final report titled, “Doesn’t NRC address consequences of severe accident in EIS for relicensing? (Sept. 24, 2014)”

In May, 2015, he was charged with attempting to obtain information from government computers. On February 2, 2016,^[32] he plead guilty ^[33] to one count of attempted "unauthorized access to a protected computer". He was released two months after later.

Recent Books

• Eccleston C., Megacrises: A Survivor's Guide to the Future
• Eccleston C., The EIS Book: Managing and Preparing Environmental Impact Statements. CRC Press, (2014).
• Eccleston C., NEPA and Environmental Planning: Tools, Techniques, and Approaches for Practitioners. CRC Press, (2008).
• Eccleston C., and March F., Global Environmental Policy: Principles, Concepts And Practice, CRC Press Inc. (2010).
• Eccleston C., Inside Energy: The Handbook for Implementing an ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems, CRC Press Inc. (2011).
• Eccleston C., Environmental Impact Assessment: A Guide to Best Professional Practices. CRC Press Inc. (2011).
• Eccleston C., Preparing NEPA Environmental Assessments: A Guide to Best Professional Practices. CRC Press.

References

• Journal of the American Planning Association Volume 67, Issue 2, 2001 - Book reviews

External links

• "Author Bio: Charles H. Eccleston". CRC Press: Taylor and Francis Group. Retrieved 27 April 2014.