Environmental Compliance |
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Environmental Assessments
An environmental assessment (EA) is a concise public document that serves to (1) briefly provide sufficient evidence and analysis for determining whether to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) or a finding of no significant impact (FONSI); (2) aid an agency's compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when no EIS is necessary; and (3) facilitate the preparation of an EIS when one is necessary (40 CFR 1508.9). Generally, an EA leads to a FONSI or an EIS, but it could also lead to the abandonment of a proposed action.
An EA must be prepared for any federally proposed action that could affect the environment and that does not require an EIS or is not categorically excluded. An EA also may be prepared for any action to assist the agency planning and decisionmaking (40 CFR 1501.3) or for an action that is normally a categorical exclusion but has extraordinary circumstances that may have significant environmental effects (40 CFR 1508.4). A Federal agency may employ the services of contractors, State agencies, or applicants (as with EA's for permits), but the Federal agency remains responsible for the document.
The content of an EA must include brief discussions of: (1) the need for the proposal; (2) alternatives to the proposal; (3) environmental impacts of the proposal and alternatives; and (4) a list of agencies and persons consulted (40 CFR 1508.9). An EA may incorporate by reference background data that supports the discussion of the proposal and relevant issues. The page limit of an EA should be no more than 10 to 15 pages, except in unusual cases. The exception applies when the proposal is so complex that a concise document cannot meet the requirements of an EA and where it is extremely difficult to determine whether the proposal could have significant environmental effects (Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ's) 40 Questions).
When an EA concludes that the proposal results in no significant impact to the environment, a FONSI is issued. The FONSI briefly presents the reasons why a proposed action will not have a significant effect on the human environment and for which an EIS therefore will not be prepared. The FONSI includes the EA or a summary of it and references any other relevant environmental documents. If the EA is included, the FONSI may incorporate by reference the discussion in the EA (40 CFR• 1508.13).
An EA and FONSI can be used to impose enforceable mitigation measures, monitoring programs, or other requirements, even though not required by the CEQ NEPA regulations. The mitigation measures can be imposed as enforceable permit conditions or adopted as part of the agency final decision in the same manner that mitigation measures are adopted in a Record of Decision for an EIS. (CEQ's 40 Questions)