Environmental Review Process

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process is intended to assist the Board and the public in identifying and assessing the potential environmental consequences of a proposed action before a decision on that proposed action is made. SEA is responsible for ensuring that the Board complies with NEPA and related environmental statues.

Steps of the Environmental Review Process are as follows:

• Notice of Intent
• Draft Scope of Study
• Public Scoping Meetings
• Final Scope of Study
• Draft EIS
• Public Comment
• Final EIS
• Decision

Notice of Intent

The Notice of Intent (NOI) is a document prepared by the Board that states the intent to prepare an EIS. It is mailed to all parties on the environmental distribution list and is posted on the Board's website. The NOI provides information about the next steps of the environmental review process, including the draft Scope of Study, and public scoping meetings. The NOI was published on December 21, 2007, and is available on the News & Information page.

Draft Scope of Study

A draft Scope of Study was developed for the EIS and published in the Federal Register on December 21, 2007. Public comments on the draft Scope of Study were accepted until February 15, 2008. The draft Scope of Study incorporated the environmental issues and concerns with regard to aspect's of the environmental review process. The draft Scope of Study is available on the News & Information page.

Public Scoping Meetings

Scoping is an open process to determine the range of issues that should be examined and assessed in the EIS. The scoping process included a number of public open house scoping meetings held in the affected area in mid-to late January 2008. At the meetings, members of the public had the opportunity to discuss their interests and concerns with SEA staff.

Final Scope of Study

A final Scope of Study for the EIS was prepared based on the comments received on the draft Scope of Study. The final Scope of Study was published in the Federal Register on Friday, April 25 and is available on the News and Information page.

Draft EIS

SEA will prepare a Draft EIS for the project. The Draft EIS will address required environmental subjects as well as those environmental issues and concerns identified during the scoping process. It will also contain SEA's preliminary recommendations for environmental mitigation measures.

Public Comment

Upon completion of the Draft EIS, the document will be made available for public and agency review and comment for 45 days. Public hearings may also be held during this 45-day comment period.

Final EIS

SEA will then prepare a Final EIS that will address the comments on the Draft EIS from the public and agencies.

Decision

The Board will review the Final EIS and then issue a decision on the proposed project. In reaching its decision in this case, the Board will take into account the Draft EIS, the Final EIS, public comments, and the environmental analysis and recommendations, including any environmental mitigation proposed by SEA.