United States
From EIA_Wiki
The United States was the first to establish EIA legislation with the release of the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969.
US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 1969)
NEPA has been called the Magna Carta of EIA. It is both the founding legislation and remains a pre-eminent statement of the spirit and purpose of EIA. The language in the purpose and declaratory sections of NEPA corresponds to the objectives and principles of sustainability, anticipating by more than 20 years that contained in the Rio Declaration. Section 102 defines the procedural requirement for the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS), which have been subject to considerable reinterpretation by the courts.
