Environmental Engineering FOURTH EDITION

14 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

However, few people realized in 1970 that NEPA contained a “sleeper,” Section
102(2)(C), that requires federal agencies to evaluate with public input the consequences
of any proposed action on the environment:

Congress authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent possible: (1) the policies, regulations,

and public laws of the United States shall be interpreted and administered in accordance

with the policies set forth in this chapter, and (2) all agencies of the Federal Government shall

include in every recommendation or report on proposals for legislation and other major Federal

actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, a detailed statement by

the responsible official on-

(i) the environmental impact of the proposed action,

(ii) any adverse environmental effects that cannot be avoided should the proposal be

(iii) alternatives to the proposed action,

(iv) the relationship between local short-term uses of man’s environment and the mainte

(v) any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources that would be involved in

implemented,

nance and enhancement of long-term productivity, and

the proposed action should it be implemented.

In other words each project funded by the federal government or requiring a federal

permit must be accompanied by an environmental assessment. This assessment results

in issuance of one of three documents:

(1) Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSZ). Such a stand-alone finding results

when potential environmental impacts are compared to a checklist of significant

impacts, with the result that no significant impact can be identified.

(2) EnvironmentalAssessment (EA). Adetailed assessment of potential environmen-

tal impact resulting in one of two conclusions: either the EA must be expanded

to a full-scale environmental impact statement or a FONSI results from the EA.

(3) Environmental Impact Statement (EZS). An EIS must assess in detail the

potential environmental impacts of a proposed action and alternative actions.

Additionally, the agencies must generally follow a detailed public review of

each EIS before proceeding with the project or permit. It should be noted that

both positive and negative impacts are included; i.e., “impact” does not imply

“adverse impact.”

These impact statements are assessments and contain no judgments about the

positive or negative value of the project in question. An EIS publication sequence

is prescribed by law. First, a draft EIS (DEIS) is issued by the appropriate federal

agency. After mandated public hearings and incorporation of comments, the federal

agency issues a final EIS (FEIS). A Record of Decision (ROD), which includes the

final decision about the project, the alternative chosen, and any value judgments, is

also issued.

The purpose of environmental assessments was not to justifj or fault projects,

but to introduce environmental factors into the decision-making machinery and have

them discussed in public before decisions about a project are made. However, this