OCR Text |
Show A. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSAL 1. Introduction This environmental statement on the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project is submitted in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act ( NEPA) of 1969, Public Law 91- 190. The purpose of the statement is to present factual data necessary to define and evaluate the environmental impact of the proposed construction and to assist the appropriate administrators in making decisions concerning proposed features of the Bonneville Unit. The statement has been prepared in accordance with the Department of the Interior format established to meet the requirements of the act. It includes eight sections, each dealing with a separate aspect of the analysis. To facilitate review of this statement, the introduction to each section contains a brief resume of the purpose of the section and a definition of the major terms used in the discussion as they have been related to the Bonneville Unit. The Bonneville Unit is an on- going project which is about 16 percent complete. Some of its features are already constructed and some are under construction. It also has features ready for immediate construction and others scheduled for future construction in accordance with a proposed construction schedule which extends through the year 1988 ( Fig. A- l). Awarding of further contracts on Bonneville Unit features has been delayed pending submittal of this final environmental statement. Section 11 of the April 23, 1971, Council on Environmental Quality ( CEQ) Guidelines for preparing environmental statements has particular application to the Bonneville Unit, wherein it relates section 102( 2)( C) of NEPA to existing projects and programs. " To the maximum extent practicable the section 102( 2)( C) procedure should be applied to further major Federal actions having a significant effect on the environment even though they arise from projects or programs initiated prior to enactment of the Act on January 1, 1970. Where it is not practicable to reassess the basic course of action, it is still important that further incremental major actions be shaped so as to minimize adverse environmental consequences. It is also important in further action that account be taken of environmental consequences not fully evaluated at the outset of the project or program." In accordance with the CEQ Guidelines, this statement discusses physical elements of the Bonneville Unit that are in various stages |