Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
analysis interdisciplinary team to consider input from scoping, past expe-
riences, and preliminary analysis to identify the areas where impacts could
occur, and these areas constitute the affected environment.
A screening approach was successfully employed in the U.S. Coast Guard
(USCG) dry cargo residue (DCR) environmental impact statement (EIS;
USCG 2008) to identify environmental resources potentially at risk, thus
warranting inclusion in the affected environment section (see Chapter  10
for description of the DCR EIS). All of the environmental resource areas
typically covered in USCG and similar EISs were identified, supplemented
with input from internal scoping, and then a preliminary and qualita-
tive evaluation was done on each by the environmental analysis team to
determine whether they were potentially affected by any of the alterna-
tives under consideration. The results of the evaluation that eliminated
many environmental resources from detailed consideration in the EIS were
reported at the beginning of the affected environment chapter of  the EIS
(Table 5.1 summarizes results of the resource screening process). The evalu-
ation identified the environmental resources that would be addressed in
detail as part of the affected environment chapter and analyzed in the EIS:
Great Lakes sediments, water quality, biological and related resources;
and socioeconomic environment. The DCR EIS was particularly amena-
ble to this approach because it was confined to a narrow range of activity
(i.e., management of DCR) and the waters of the Great Lakes. A critical ele-
ment in the success of the approach is that it was presented during both
social and technical scoping with a solicitation of comments on resources
potentially at risk, which had been missed or prematurely screened from
detailed consideration. This approach yielded buy-in from the major stake-
holders, even those with serious concerns over any DCR discharge to the
Great Lakes. For the DCR EIS, as in preparation of any environmental analy-
sis, once the resources of concern have been determined and stakeholder
buy-in has been received, the detailed description of each resource as it
relates to the alternatives under consideration can begin.
5.2.2 Mandatory First Step in Describing the Affected Environment
In almost every case there is a wealth of readily available information on the
affected environment. In the United States the federal, state, and local gov-
ernments have expended considerable resources monitoring and describing
environmental conditions. They have also required private entities to per-
form extensive environmental monitoring under various regulated activi-
ties. In addition, academic research frequently includes description and
analysis of existing conditions. In most cases, the combination of data and
information on existing conditions from all these sources is broader, more
detailed, at a higher density, and  of longer duration than information that
can be originally developed within the scope, budget, and schedule of an
individual environmental impact analysis.
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