Environmental Engineering FOURTH EDITION

20 ENVIRONMEN’IlL ENGINEERING

An EA or EIS is usually organized into the following sections:

Introduction

The introduction provides an overview of the proposed project, alternative actions,
and the assessment methods that will be used. It includes a statement of purpose: why
the assessment is being done. It often includes a summary of the most critical and
important results of the assessment. The introduction can often serve as an executive
summary of the EA or EIS.

Description of the Proposed Action and Alternatives

This section describes the proposed project and all of the alternatives that need to be
considered, including the “no action” alternative. The last is a description of projections
of future scenarios if the proposed project is not done. All possible alternatives need
not be included; inclusion depends on the project being undertaken. For example, the
EIS for the proposed high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, NV,
was not required to consider alternate waste repository sites.

Description of the Environment Affected by the Proposed Acfion

This description is best organized by listing environmental parameters that could be

impacted by the proposed alternative, grouping them into logical sets. One listing

might be:

0 Ecology

-Species and populations

-Habitats and communities

-Ecosystems

-Wetlands

0 Aesthetics

-Land

-Air

-Water

-Biota

-Human-made objects

-Objects of historical or cultural significance

0 Environmental Pollution and Human Health

-Water

-Air

-Land

-Noise