As a community member, you have the opportunity and right to participate in
decisions that affect your environment and quality of life. Major federal
actions in your community like building a highway, a new power plant, or
commercial logging require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). One part of
this public process is called scoping; this is an opportunity for you to raise
questions and concerns about how a proposed project may affect you and your
community. You may submit your public comment at public hearings or in writing,
or both.
Following are examples of questions and concerns you may raise during the
scoping process.
Geographic Scope:
- What will be the geographic scope of air quality effects included in the
EIS? (Examples: Metropolitan area, airshed or global atmosphere)
- What will be the geographic scope of water quality effects included in the
EIS? (Examples: stream, watershed, river basin, estuary, aquifer, or parts
thereof)
- What vegetative resources will be included the EIS address? (Example:
watershed, forest, range, or ecosystem)
- What will be the geographic scope of effects on resident wildlife included
in the EIS? (Example: a specific habitat or ecosystem)
- What will be the geographic scope of study on migratory wildlife?
(Example: breeding grounds, migration route, wintering areas, or total range)
- What historical resources will be included in the EIS? (Example:
neighborhood, rural community, tribal territory, or known or possible historic
district)
- What sociocultural resources will be included in the EIS? (Example:
neighborhood, community, distribution of low-income or minority population, or
culturally valued landscape.)
- What will the geographic scope of socioeconomic impacts be? (Community,
metropolitan area, county, state, or country)
Cumulative Environmental Effects:
- How will the EIS address frequent and repetitive effects on an
environmental system? (Example: forest harvesting rates that exceed regrowth.)
- Will the EIS include delayed effects? (Examples: exposure to environmental
toxins, mobilization of persistent or bioaccumulated substances through the
food chain)
- Will the EIS address other nearby activities that will have a similar
environmental impact? (Example: multiple livestock areas in a compressed
space; multiple wastewater dischargers to the same resource)
- Will the EIS analyze fragmentation of the landscape? (Example:
fragmentation of a historic district)
- Will the EIS include additive effects? (Example: multiple contaminants in
the environment)
- Will the EIS address the indirect or secondary effects? (Example:
commercial development following highway construction)
- Will the EIS analyze fundamental changes in systems like groundwater,
surface water, biodiversity, and other natural systems?
Components of the Affected Environment:
- What will be the scope of study for potential air quality effects?
(Examples: human health hazards, poor visibility, ambient air quality,
particulates, regional air quality issues, “acid rain”)
- What will be the scope of study for potential surface water effects?
(Examples: water quality from multiple sources; water quality degradation from
land uses that result in nonpoint-source pollution, sedimentation from erosion
caused by construction, forestry practices, or agriculture, water shortages
from overuse, deterioration of recreational uses from overdevelopment)
- What will be the scope of study for groundwater effects? (Examples:
non-point pollution and multiple-source pollution that may infiltrate to
groundwater; depletion of groundwater resources from overuse)
- What will be the scope of study for lands and soils? (Examples: diminished
land fertility and productivity from nonsustainable agricultural practices;
soil loss from multiple, uncoordinated activities such agriculture on
excessive gradients, overharvesting in forestry, and highway construction)
- What will be the scope of study for wetlands? (Examples: habitat loss and
diminished flood control capacity resulting from dredging and filling
individual tracts of wetlands, sedimentation from irrigation and urban runoff)
- What will be the scope of study for ecological systems? (Example: loss of
biological diversity; habitat fragmentation from multiple activities such as
logging, agriculture, and urban development; degradation of sensitive
ecosystems from incremental stresses; loss of fish and wildlife systems from
the from the creation of multiple barriers to migration)
- What will be the scope of study for historic and archaeological resources?
(Examples: cultural site degradation resulting from streambank erosion,
construction, plowing and land leveling; fragmentation of historic districts)
- What will be the scope of study for socioeconomic effects? (Examples:
over-burdened social services due to population changes resulting from
multiple projects and activities; unstable labor market resulting from changes
in the pool of eligible workers)
- What will be the scope of study for effects on the community? (Examples:
disruption of community mobility and access as a result of changes in
infrastructure, changes resulting from the incremental displacement of
community members as a result of development, loss of neighborhoods or
community character through incremental development)
Military Toxics Project - "Networking for Environmental Justice"
P.O. Box 558, Lewiston, ME, 04243
Phone: (207) 783-5091 - Fax: (207) 783-5096 - Web:
www.miltoxproj.org
