By Jenny Neeley, Attorney at Law
Introduction: National Environmental Policy Act & Scoping Process
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires all federal agencies to prepare a “detailed statement” on the impacts of any proposed action that may “significantly affect the quality of the human environment.”¹ This “detailed statement” can take one of two forms:
- Environmental Assessment (EA), a brief analysis used to determine the significance of impacts resulting from a federal action, or
- Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), a detailed and thorough analysis used for those actions that are expected to result in significant impacts.
Federal agencies are required to go through a public “scoping process” in order to determine the scope of issues that should be addressed in an EA or EIS. Scoping also helps the agency determine the likely significance of an action’s impacts, and whether an EA or an EIS will be required.
What to Include in NEPA Scoping Comments
The scoping period is the best time to identify all the issues and resources that the agency must consider when preparing an EA or EIS, as well as the potential impacts the proposed action may have on those resources.
Identify resources likely to be impacted.
This includes all the resources and values that are likely to be impacted by the proposed action, including:
- Air quality
- Water quality and quantity
- Wildlife and vegetation, including endangered, threatened, and other special status species
- Wildlife movement corridors
- Soils
- Watersheds Floodplains, wetlands, and riparian areas
- Cultural and Archeological resources
- Visual resources and scenic values
- Dark skies
- Recreation
- Transportation and traffic
- Public safety
- Socioeconomic Impacts
Identify potential impacts resulting from proposed action.
The scoping period is also the best time to identify all the potential impacts that are likely to result from the proposed action. The potential impacts will vary depending on the specific activity being proposed, and can include ecological, aesthetic, historic, cultural, economic, social, and health related impacts. When assessing potential impacts, the agency must look at:
- Direct impacts: “are caused by the action and occur at the same time and place;”
- Indirect impacts: “are caused by the action and are later in time or farther removed in distance, but are still reasonably foreseeable (e.g., induced changes in land use patterns, population density, and related effects on natural resources and ecosystems);” and
- Cumulative impacts: “the impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions, regardless of what agency or person undertakes such actions. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant actions taking place over a period of time.” ²
REMEMBER: You don’t have to do the analysis for the agency. At the scoping stage, you just need to identify the issues and potential impacts that must be analyzed. You should also submit any research or supporting documentation that is relevant to assessing the significance of the project’s potential impacts. The agency is obligated to consider this material when drafting the EA or EIS.
Act Now: Hermosa-Taylor Deposit Drilling Project Scoping Notice and Plan of Operation.
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1 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 USC § 4332(C) (1982).
2 Council for Environmental Quality, NEPA Implementing Regulations, 40 CFR § 1508.8 (2010).
