Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
most obvious and potentially most severe impacts and generally represents
the bulk of the environmental impact analysis. The initial identification
by the internal team can also stimulate the thought process for the TAC so
that the potential for more subtle impacts can be considered.
Another benefit technical scoping provides the environmental impact
analysis process is identification of the types of investigation and associated
methods that are appropriate based on the magnitude and intensity of the
potential impact. Certainly, the TAC's combined knowledge and experience
can help identify the appropriate and efficient investigations and methods to
describe existing conditions, predict impacts, or formulate mitigation. Also,
TAC input often results in an overall better understanding of the issues and
impacts, and a better decision.
Proactive involvement of the TAC can also have other more subtle influ-
ences on the process. Conducting studies that the TAC supports in advance,
or better yet suggested and helped develop, all but ensures their support of
the results. When the relatively unbiased TAC supports conclusions, it goes
a long way in generating broad stakeholder support for results of the indi-
vidual studies and ultimately the proposed action.
The over-the-horizon (OTH) U.S. Air Force (USAF) radar EIS demon-
strates the advantage of engaging experts in the technical scoping process.
The OTH radar in northern California required approximately 1000 hect-
ares of USFS lands and the Forest Service was concerned with potential
impacts to native American artifacts and cultural sites. As part of technical
scoping, the USFS's regional archaeologist suggested a method for map-
ping sites and identifying artifacts based on his extensive local knowledge
and experience (see Section 5.2.5 for discussion of the methods). The USAF
implemented the suggested method, which was successful, relatively effi-
cient, and was able to develop a layout for the radar that was acceptable to
the USFS. It did not hurt that the method employed by the USAF also made
a major contribution to the USFS unfunded mandate to map the cultural
resources and sites on their land.
The USCG DCR EIS experience includes another example of productive
and effective use of technical scoping (see Section 10.2 for the background
and description of DCR EIS). The environmental impact analysis team had
identified physical alteration of the aquatic habitat resulting from the dis-
charge of DCR to the waters of the Great Lakes as a potential area of impact.
However, the identification was only of a very general nature based on the
observation that the presence of coal, iron ore, and limestone on an other-
wise soft mud lake bottom would alter the physical characteristics of the
benthic habitat.
As a result of interactions with the DCR EIS TAC and the internal environ-
mental impact analysis team, specific impacts resulting from the physical alter-
ation of the sediment were identified. The combined knowledge and experience
of the internal team and the TAC identified an increase in the density and dis-
tribution of the invasive and nonnative Dreissena spp. mussels as a potentially
Search WWH ::




Custom Search