National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Support

HDR|Ecosystem Management and Associates staff have prepared and reviewed numerous Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements for various Federal agencies. Examples of NEPA support include, but are not limited to:

• Conducting Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Overseas EAs for helicopter and weapons test platforms for the U.S. Navy.
  
• Developing an implementation plan, and providing on-site monitoring and tracking of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for NAS Patuxent River.
  
• Assisting the EPA with the review of a Supplemental EIS related to gold mine development in Alaska.

Recently, HDR|Ecosystem Management and Associates led a team of four companies to provide scientific consultation for a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) action relative to proposed rulemaking on modifying existing oil spill response capabilities requirements.  The project is based upon the analysis of five regulatory alternatives for the rulemaking, including the no action alternative. The active regulatory alternatives for the rulemaking offer various combinations of: 1) enhancement of mechanical removal requirements; 2) addition of requirements for dispersant treatment capability; 3) aerial tracking requirements; and 4) an option for adding an in situ burning capability in exchange for a credit against mechanical removal requirements. Collectively, these are referred to as actions to increase oil removal capacity (Caps).  Based on these options, five alternatives will be analyzed in the PEIS.

The purpose of this project is to provide specialized scientific and technical input necessary for the analysis of these alternatives. This analysis is based on detailed modeling of the fate and effects of simulated oil spills under different response configurations at five locations nationwide. It integrates stochastic modeling predictions with relative risk assessment methods to evaluate potential impacts.