Overview and Initiating the Environmental Impact Analysis and Assessment - Environmental Impact Analysis: Process and Methods - page 116

4.3.1.1 Potential Areas of Impacts and Concern

The areas of impact and concern are the classic and primary areas of informa-
tion that should be identified during a scoping process. It is incumbent on the
environmental analysis practitioner to identify the stakeholders for inclusion
in the identification of impacts and concerns (see following sections for discus-
sion of targeted audiences). Similarly the environmental analysis team must
develop and disseminate sufficient information to the stakeholders so that they
are able to generate meaningful and complete input for each issue and area
of concern. Providing sufficient information is not as simple as it might seem.
Overdevelopment of information on the proposed action and alternatives for
dissemination during scoping can delay the process and result in significant
backtracking if issues, concerns, and alternatives are identified during scoping
that were not considered when the initial extensive and detailed information was
prepared. Presenting too much information during scoping can also create the
perceived and sometimes valid impression that the entity proposing the action
has already made a decision and proceeded with a detailed development of the
proposed project, plan, or policy without public input and thus subverted the
critical full disclosure and transparency objectives of environmental analysis.
At the other extreme is too little information: there must be sufficient
information presented for stakeholder to first determine whether they are
in fact stakeholders and if so, whether they can provide meaningful, timely,
and useful input. The information provided during the scoping process
should also have enough detail and specifics to generate ideas and discus-
sion among stakeholders. At a minimum the following should be developed
by the environmental impact analysis team and made available during the
scoping process (see also Section 3.1.1, “Defining the Action”):

r Clear and concise purpose and need statement (see Chapter 3,
Section 3.5)
r Possible geographic locations of the project, area covered by plans/
policies, and area potentially affected
r A brief project history
r Size range of any structures or infrastructure components that could
be part of the proposed action (e.g., up to 10 km of new highway, a
building up to 5000 m 2 , power generation up to 1200 mW)
r Any other metrics that could be helpful in understanding the mag-
nitude of the proposed action (e.g., quantity of water involved; num-
ber of jobs created; anticipated traffic volume)
r Any known critical existing conditions such as environmentally
sensitive areas or resources
r A listing and description of any impacts, issues, or concerns that
have already been identified by the environmental analysis team or
through the project history
r Description of any alternatives already identified