RCAA On-Line Library--History

RCAA ON-LINE LIBRARY

Environmental Impact Statements

Issues in Brief: Before big construction projects are begun, potential environmental problems are supposed to evaluated by the project proponent in what are called Environment Impact Statements (EISes). An EIS should disclose all the environmental harm that the project might do. The EIS should also outline the plans for mitigating environmental impacts.

Under State law, there is first a “scoping” process, to decide just what to study, followed by a draft EIS. The public & interested agencies are invited to comment on the draft, the agency then publishes a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) including its responses to all the comments on the draft. Supposedly, the top decision-makers review a project's FEIS before deciding whether to proceed.

Three draft EISes and three FEISes were prepared for the third-runway project. They are multi-volume documents, running to thousands of pages – too much to post. Copies of all are in the RCAA print library, where they are available for review. We will post the executive summaries of all on this site in the coming weeks.

For projects involving Federal money, the responsible Federal agency prepares a Record of Decision (ROD) or similar document. These come after the EIS process. They critique the FEIS, & they state the legal & practical basis for Federal participation, including cost-benefits analysis. Two RODs were prepared by the regional FAA for the runway project. They are weak on critical analysis, especially as to noise impacts and costs versus benefits (costs are greatly understated, & the statement of benefits is without factual support).

Documents:

RCAA Scoping Comments to Draft Environmental Impacts Statement (DEIS). (A good minitraining course in issues, as well.)

RCAA Comments on SeaTac Masterplan Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). (without appendices)

RCAA Comments on SeaTac Masterplan Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS).

Seattle Community Federation Comments on SeaTac Masterplan Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS)

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