Assessing the assessors: Toward “risk aware” courts

This paper examines the ability of the judiciary to provide substantive oversight to agency environmental risk assessments under NEPA. A case study and its legal background are used to show the inability of an agency in one instance to separately estimate and evaluate risk, and the problems encountered by courts reviewing the assessment. Guidelines are suggested to aid agencies in preparation of assessments and to provide courts with a more effective and easy means of review.