CHAPTER 11 Remarks

• Jurisdiction: United States

Natural Resources Environmental Law
(Feb 1972)
CHAPTER 11
Remarks
Maurice D. Arnold, Regional Director, Mid-Continent Region, Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, Denver, Colorado
Natural Resoruces Environmental Law Institute of the Rocky Mountain Law Foundation, February 26, 1972
Denver, Colorado

INTRODUCTION

My assignment today is to explain the mechanics that come into play when the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation receives a request to review an environmental statement prepared by another agency. The National Environmental Policy Act states that any federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any impact of a project shall have the opportunity to review the statement.

As requested by the Chairman of today's Program Planning Committee, my remarks will be directed primarily to a practical how to do it explanation of our review process. However, I believe preparation and review of a project environmental impact statement would be only a pro forma exercise if these activities are not carried out within the framework of the policy and philosophical mandates of the Act. Therefore, I would like to preface my procedural discussion with a brief look at the raison d'etre of the Act.

The legislative history indicates that the Act was intended to be a national statement of policy providing a set of goals that would protect and advance the public interest in healthful and quality surroundings. An important purpose of the Act is to restore public confidence in the nation's ability to achieve

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important public purposes and at the same time maintain and enhance the quality of the environment. In brief, Section 102 was intended to insure that a project's environmental impacts are given appropriate and careful consideration along with those traditional measures of project feasibility such as cost/benefit ratio, product marketability and profit projections.

THE REVIEW PROCESS

The review of an environmental impact statement is not a free-form procedure. It is governed by the Act itself first of all. In addition, there are the guidelines issued by the Council of Environmental Quality which have been discussed earlier in this conference. Moreover, the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, follows Interior Department guidelines and Bureau guidelines which prescribe the legal and administrative nature of our review and comments on environmental impact statements prepared by other agencies.

To this framework, we must add the practical considerations of staff capability. The expertise and backgrounds of the various individuals working for the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation determine, to a large extent, who will be assigned to...