Abstract
The National Environmental Policy Act [42 United States Code (U.S.C.) 4321 et seq.; NEPA], the Council on Environmental Quality’s NEPA regulations [40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Parts 1500 to 1508], and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) NEPA implementing procedures (10 CFR Part 1021) require that DOE consider the potential environmental impacts of a proposed action before making a decision. This requirement applies to decisions about whether to provide different types of financial assistance to States and private entities.
In compliance with these regulations, this Environmental Assessment (EA)
- Examines the potential environmental impacts of the Proposed Action and the No-Action Alternative;
- Identifies unavoidable adverse environmental impacts of the Proposed Action;
- Describes the relationship between local short-term uses of the human environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity; and
- Characterizes any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources that would be involved should DOE decide to implement its Proposed Action.
DOE must meet these requirements before it can make a final decision to proceed with any proposed Federal action that could cause adverse impacts to human health or the environment. This EA provides DOE and other decision makers the information needed to make an informed decision about the installation, operation, and eventual decommissioning of the proposed wind turbine. The EA evaluates the potential individual and cumulative impacts of the proposed project. For purposes of comparison, this EA also evaluates the impacts that could occur if DOE did not provide funding (the No-Action Alternative), under which DOE assumes the project would not proceed. The EA does not analyze other action alternatives.