Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
impact avoidance and mitigation. Without full commitment to alternative
development and analysis, the environmental impact assessment method-
ologies presented in this and similar topics as well as environmental reg-
ulations would be nonproductive at best, and in most cases impossible. In
fact, the CEQ Regulations implementing NEPA state: “This section [alterna-
tives] is the heart of the environmental impact statement” (CEQ Regulations
Sec. 1502.14). As discussed above and highlighted in the NEPA CEQ
Regulations, a primary purpose of any environmental impact analysis pro-
cess or document is to support decisions, and the key decision supported
by the process is alternative selection. Thus the identification, description,
evaluation, and comparison of alternatives are central and guiding threads
of any sound environmental analysis.
The role of alternatives in environmental analysis can be viewed as analo-
gous to a high school junior or senior selecting a college. The college search
begins with the prospective students first considering what they want out of an
advanced education experience, which is analogous to the environmental anal-
ysis definition of purpose and need. In environmental analysis, identifying the
purpose and need is problem identification and developing alternatives is the
first step in problem solving. College selection is a similar process. Once the
purpose and need are identified, then the student identifies a number of alter-
native colleges and universities which might meet his goals for higher educa-
tion, similar to developing alternatives which may meet the purpose and need
for a proposed action in an environmental analysis. A next step for the student
might be to narrow the list of schools by determining which ones would poten-
tially accept him, which is similar to determining which alternatives efficiently
satisfy the purpose and need in an environmental analysis. Then the school
search comparison can begin in earnest by determining where each school falls
with respect to the student's goals such as: urban versus rural; academic rank-
ing; extracurricular opportunities; cost; living arrangements; student mix; etc.
Similarly the environmental analysis determines the impact of each alternative
on the resources of concern, such as transportation, endangered species, water
quality, and air quality. Once the impact of alternatives or the attributes of each
potential school in the search are known, an informed decision focused on the
critical factors can be implemented.
The approach to addressing alternatives in the environmental impact anal-
ysis is discussed in the following sections. Various approaches to the treat-
ment of alternatives and the proposed action are presented first, followed
by a discussion of methods to develop and describe alternatives. The sec-
tion then presents screening of alternatives so that only feasible alternatives
that fully satisfy the purpose and need are carried forward for a full and
detailed evaluation in the environmental impact analysis. The comparison
of alternatives and selection for implementation are highly dependent on
the impacts resulting from each alternative, thus a full determination and
analysis of impacts (as discussed in Chapter 5) must be completed before
there is a final comparison and selection of alternatives. However, the final
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