Tim Kroeker points to cumulative impact analyses as a hot NEPA issue today. NEPA practitioners are currently struggling to adequately yet succinctly address cumulative impacts. For example, the Maury Island EA failed to “explain why the project’s cumulative impacts are insignificant.”
According to the court, the area of influence (AOI) in this EA was too narrow. The cumulative section considered mainly “land-based impacts” and did not adequately consider impacts to the State aquatic reserve. Because AOI was too narrowly focused, the entire analysis was inherently flawed. Interestingly, Judge Ricardo Martinez concluded that this error alone was significantly enough to trigger a non-compliance finding.
Determining AOI is a tightrope act. An AOI that is too narrow results in a non-compliance finding while an AOI that is too broad results in hundreds of wasted research hours. If you have any examples of NEPA documents that do a good job of determining the AOI, post a comment here, or send me a quick email.
We’ve been talking with you, our users, and you’ve given us great feedback on pricing. We’ve heard that $199 wasn’t the right price for smaller projects. So, let me introduce a new price option for the Socio-Ec Data Report: the $59 option. This option is for PCEs and small CEs. It works like this:
If your project is small with 10 or fewer Census geographies, the Socio-Ec Data Report is only $59.
If your project is large with 11 or more geographies, the Socio-Ec Data Report is still $199.
In this episode of “5 Questions with…” we’re talking to Tim Kroeker, Environmental Planner with Berg Oliver. Tim has been described as “a very witty and caring guy who always gives 110%, whether it involves work, family, or friendship.”
What one piece of advice would you give to a new NEPA Pro today?
Embrace change. NEPA was a pretty stable, fairly consistent machine for a very long time. You will find that things are now evolving almost on a daily basis. Learn everything you can about key subjects like indirect and cumulative impacts analysis, LEP, EJ, and permitting. Those are the emerging big issues. At the same time, get conversant with cultural resources and things like T, E, and SOC species. You can’t specialize, but you need to find your niche. More and more companies want to develop aspects of expertise that they can trust will be done properly, but they also want people who are ably cross-trained.
What is one improvement that you hope to see in NEPA documents in the near future?
Image from City of Evansville
This is a very sensitive topic, and one that is loaded with a lot of vested interests. Anything I’d want to see changed in one way, at least one person would want kept the same or changed the other way. That said, I’d like to see more meaningful data. For example, when we do EJ to the block level we are missing out on the elderly, single moms, poverty, and disabled. I once designed a low-income housing project and gave it to female architect friend of mine who was a single mom, and I asked her to critique it. I really should have had her in on the ground floor, because by the time I got done with her revisions it was a whole different complex. For example, we don’t consider the impacts on wheelchair bound folks and moms who need to get three kids (one is a stroller) to the bus stop when we temporarily relocate it.
What is the most exciting development in NEPA work today?
I think the most exciting thing is that the work is becoming more complex. In the old days you could write an entire EA without talking to a single resident or ever leaving your office. Now I find that I need to visit my sites almost on a weekly basis. I’ve been working on a project for a couple years and not so long ago I learned something about the changing neighborhood I’d never known before. New neighbors move in and things that were constant for the whole project change over night.
How do you keep up with trends and developments in NEPA and environmental documents?
I think it’s a mindset. I think a lot of people feel that once they have their requisite hours of whatever they can settle into their jobs. Sharks die if they stop moving. You need to look for places that you can actively (not academically) expand your knowledge base. Read, write, and speak.
What is biggest challenge facing NEPA pros in the coming years?
Pretty much everything I’ve said so far. But I think you’ll find that if you wait for the coming years you’re in for a big shock. New massive challenges are coming almost daily. Expect more stringent review from the Corps. State, federal, and local budgets are shrinking so expect them to want more for less. The recession won’t last forever and the developers will be back. Expect a lot of work from those folks, so learn how to fight and which fights are worth stocking up on bandages, extra blood, and gauze.
Some are calling for an environmental impact statement (EIS) to take a hard look at the potential impact of health care reform. EISs typically analyze the potential impacts of federally-funded infrastructure projects such as roads, parks or power plants.
However, the National Environmental Policy Act does extend to “legislation and other major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.” And occasionally, an EIS is prepared to determine the potential impacts of a new program, such as this EIS discussing the impacts of the USDA’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program.
It is hard to argue that the potential impacts of health care reform would be less than that of a road, park, power plant or the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. However, NEPA does not apply to the President, Congress or the Federal courts–only to Federal agencies in the executive branch (see 40CFR1508.12). So as long as health care reform is proposed by the President and/or Congress, the action isn’t covered by NEPA and thus, an EIS isn’t required.
From this article, it seems that Department of Energy (DOE) hasn’t determined exactly what energy solutions will be a part of an energy park at the Savannah River Site. The Savannah River Site is a nuclear materials processing center located in South Carolina.
If the DOE is considering a range of solutions as diverse as nuclear, biomass and Fusion reactors, this project could be a good fit for using social media. With this range of possibilities, social media tools such as Twitter or Facebook would enable to Savannah River Site to quickly communicate information about the different alternatives and shed light on their decision-making process.
While the Savannah River Site does have a Citizens Advisory Board, social media tools could help the DOE communicate with interested parties who are not part of the Board and who cannot attend a Tuesday meeting during lunch because of work or family obligations. Social media would also help the DOE address the concerns of persons like Tom Clements, the Southeast campaign director for Friends of the Earth, who is asking for more public involvement and transparency.
Wondering how to get started? The American Planning Association’s Planning magazine recently ran an article on social media and planning. The title of the article is “Improve Your Social Standing” but you have to have an APA membership to view it. Or you can contact me, and I can email you a copy of this article.
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Tim Kroeker points to cumulative impact analyses as a hot NEPA issue today. NEPA practitioners are currently struggling to adequately yet succinctly address cumulative impacts. For example, the Maury Island EA failed to “explain why the project’s cumulative impacts are insignificant.”
