02-10-1997 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• »• MiMI 2 mi. 4 An Lutroductoiy Overview of the Program The Minnesoia Envircnmenial Review Program is auihorizcd by Mina StaL, sectkxi 116D.04 and 116D.045, and specified in detafl in the administrative roles adopted by the EQB ftnmd at Mina Rules, pans 4410.0200 10 4410.7800. Ihe function of this program is to avoid and minimize damage to Minnesota ’s environmental resouices by public and private development The program does this by requiring that proposed actions whch have or may have the potential for significant environmental effects undeigo ^»cial review procedures in aldition to whatever approvals and pennits they otherwise need; these special procedures are intended to disclose infbnnation so that the potential environmental impacts of a prcposal can be assessed and ways to iiuinmize or avoid any significant impacts can be identified The program roles assign a particular unit of government to prepare dte review. Usually, this unit is the one widi the greatest responsibility for supervising or approving the project This unit is termed the RGU • the ’Tlesponsible Governmental Unit” Persons unfamiliar with dte program are often surprised that the RGU is the same unit most te^xxisible for the approval or carrying out of the projea This is because they misutderstand the nature of the program - they expect that the program is intended to give some “impanial'’ unit of government the authority to re\iew and ovtnum decisions by other units which may haw environmental cflfccts. In fact, the program docs not give any unit any review authorit)- over the decisions of another unit, and funherniote, the program does not involve any sort of approval or disafpoval of the development itself. Environmental review simply requires the RGU to go through a standardized public process deagned to^ disclose infonnation about environmental effects and ways to avoid or minimize theta The program has no authority of its own to require that an>ihing be done about any environmental effects disclosed no matter how significanL It is left to oiha regulatory authorities of local, state, and federal agencies to implement the protection measures identified in the environmental review. In short, environmental review is a source of infonnation and must be integrated with other permitting and approval processes in order to actually protect the enviTonmenL Two different review procedures are used in this program: the Environmental Impact Statement, a EIS and the Environmental Assessment Worksheet, v 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 project and reasonaUe alternatives to the project, including the “no-build” alternative: the EIS must also thoroughly anal>-ze mitigation measures for significant environmental impacts. When completed the EIS gives units of government the infomradon they need to determine whether the projea is environmentally accq)iable and what mitigation measures need to be imposed The EIS is reserved for projects with “the potential for significant envitonental effects.” Usually, about 10 to IS arc required each year. The second level of review is the EAW. This review procedure is intended to screen projects which ''may havre the potential for significant environmental edects” to determine if they actually do; if the answer turns out to be “yes,” then an EIS must also be prepared. As the “workshea" pan of the name inplies, the EAW sd