NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (NEPA)/ ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (EA) PROCESS

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Environmental Assessment (EA) Process:

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a Federal statute that requires federal agencies to use a systematic, interdisciplinary approach for considering the potential environmental impacts of a Proposed Runway 5L/23R Replacement Project and factoring them into the decision-making process. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for implementing NEPA set the standards for NEPA compliance and direct federal agencies to develop their own procedures. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Order 1050.1F provides the FAA’s agency-wide policies and procedures for ensuring compliance with NEPA and the CEQ Regulations.

The EA identifies and assesses the potential environmental impacts of the Proposed Action and its reasonable alternatives. Depending upon whether certain environmental thresholds of significance are exceeded, the EA may lead either to a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) or the need to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The FAA is the lead federal agency ensuring compliance with NEPA for this Proposed Action; therefore, the EA is consistent with FAA Order 1050.1F, Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures (including the 1050.1F Desk Reference), and FAA Order 5050.4B, NEPA Implementing Instructions for Airport Actions. The FAA invited the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to participate as a cooperating agency as described under 40 CFR § 1501.8 and the USACE has accepted. Therefore, this EA has also been prepared pursuant to the requirements in USACE’s NEPA regulations (33 CFR Part 230). The USACE will also evaluate the project and decide whether to issue, conditionally issue, or deny the proposed work pursuant to applicable procedures of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 United States Code [U.S.C.] 1344).

NEPA/EA STEPS

Environmental Assessment Process – Click to enlarge

As outlined in FAA Order 1050.1F, the EA will consider impacts to the following resources:

• Air quality
• Biological resources (including fish, wildlife, and plants)
• Climate
• Resources protected under the Department of Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. §303(c) (known as Section 4(f) “resources”)
• Farmlands
• Ground Transportation
• Hazardous materials, solid waste, and pollution prevention
• Historical, architectural, archeological, and cultural resources
• Land use
• Natural resources and energy supply
• Noise and noise-compatible land use
• Socioeconomics, environmental justice, and children’s environmental health and safety risks
• Visual effects (including light emissions)
• Water resources (including wetlands, floodplains, surface waters, groundwater, and Wild and Scenic rivers)