01-13-1997 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mint 2 An Introductoiy Overview of fhe Program 'I'he Minnesoia Environmental Review lYogtam is authoriTed by Minn. StaL, section 116DX14 and 116Dj04St and in <v»iHii in the administrative niles adopted by the EQB found at Mina Rules, pans 4410.0200 ID 4410.7800. Ihe fuwtion of this program is to avt^ and minimize damage to Minnesota’s environmental resouces caused puUic and private developmenL Ihe program does this by requiring dial proposed actions which have or may have the potential for signiScant environmental efEects undergo special review procedures in addition to whatever approvals and permits they otherwise need; foese ^xdal procedures are intended to disclose faifoomation so diat the potential environmental infracts of a proposal can be assessed and ways to minimize or avoid any significant impacts can be idemiiiyi Ihe program ndes assign a unit o( government to prqiate the review. UsuaDy, this unit is the one with the greatest responsibility for siqrervising or approving the project This unit is lenned foe RGU • the ’Re^nnsiUe Governmental Unit” Persons unfomiliar with the program are often surprised that the RGU is the same unit most lesponsilde for foe qiproval or canyiitg out of the project This is because they tnisuiderstand the nature of the program - they expea that the program is intended to give some “impartial” unit of government the authority to review and overturn decisions by ofoer units which tiu^ have environmental effects. In fact the program does not give any unit any review authority over the decisions of another unit and futfoermore, foe program does not involve any sort of approval or disapproval of foe development itself. Environmental review simply requires the RGU to go through s standardized, public process designed to disclose information about environmental effea^ and ways to avoid or minimize them. The program has no authority of its own to require that anytlmig be done about any envitormrental effects disclosed, no matter how agnificant It is left to other regulatory authorities of local, state, and federal agencies to implement the proteetkn rtreasures identified in the enviiontnental review. In short, environmental review is a source of information and must be integrated with ofoer permitting and approval processes in order to actuafly proiea foe environmenL Two different review procedures are used in this program: the Environmental Impea Statement, a EIS and foe Environmental Assessment Worksheet, or EAW. The EIS is a thorough study of the environmental impacts of the projea along with a comparative analysis of the environmental, economic, and sociological impacts of the projea arxl reasonable alternatives to foe project, including foe “iio-buikr alternative; foe EIS must also thoroughly analyze mitigation measures for significant environmental impacts. When completed, foe EIS gives units of govetrunent the information they need to determine whefoer the projea is environmentally acoqxable and what mitigation measures need to be imposed The EIS is reserved for projects w/ith “foe potential for significant environental effects." Usually, about 10 to IS are required each year. The second level of review is the EAW. This review procedure is intended to screen projects which “may have the potential for significant environmental effects” to determine if they xtually do; if the answer turns out to be “yes,” then an EIS must also be prepared As the “woikshea" part of foe name inplies, the EAW i