NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER PANAMA CITY DIVISION

What is NEPA? The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 was signed in 1970 and serves as the major law for environmental protection in the U.S. today. Under this policy, federal agencies must examine their actions to determine the impact that they would have on the environment. Further, the law requires that, where possible, federal agencies avoid negative impacts. One of the provisions of the NEPA requires that agencies prepare Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) when the proposed action is major and may have significant impacts to the natural and human environment. In planning these comprehensive documents, the federal agency involved must take into consideration the concerns of the public. Executive Order 12114, Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions, was signed into law in January 1974. Its purpose is to address activities that occur outside of the US and its territories. This Executive Order requires that federal agencies analyze impacts of their proposed actions similar to the NEPA process in a document named an Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (OEIS).

The NSWC PCD performs testing in the adjacent bays and coastal environment as well as the wider Gulf of Mexico. Therefore, an EIS for actions in Florida waters that occur less than 12 miles from the coast and an OEIS that analyzes impacts in federal waters for actions off the Florida coastline from 12 miles outward will be prepared jointly.
To help you to understand the process, the U.S. Navy will follow a process made up of five general steps.

Scoping - The public and other agencies are informed of the purpose and need for the activities covered. Specific details regarding how the Proposed Action will address the specific needs of the NSWC PCD are provided. Scoping typically consists of three phases conducted in the following order: pre-scoping, public scoping, and consideration of scoping comments.

• Pre-scoping involves discussions by internal Navy agencies to determine the initial scale of the Draft EIS/OEIS.
   
• The next phase is where you, the public and interested agencies and organizations, participate. During this time, you are invited to provide your ideas for the scope of issues and alternatives that should be evaluated in the Draft EIS/OEIS. Public scoping is initiated by the placement in the Federal Register of a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS/OEIS, and the mailing and publication in local newspapers of the NOI by NSWC PCD. Three public meetings will be scheduled to provide the public with information about the proposed activities. We ask and encourage the public to provide their comments and concerns during this time.
   
• Finally, comments received during public scoping are considered during the final phase of the scoping process. During this phase the comments that have been received are considered to determine the scope and the issues that the EIS/OEIS will analyze, to identify additional alternatives to the Proposed Action that will be evaluated in detail, and to identify and eliminate insignificant issues or those previously covered by other environmental reviews.

Preparation and Issuance of a Draft EIS/OEIS - Based on the entire scoping process, a preliminary Draft EIS/OEIS is prepared. The Draft EIS/OEIS includes:

• The scope, issues, and alternatives to the Proposed Action – These items were identified during the scoping process.
   
• Analysis of Environmental Consequences - The professionals analyze the impacts to the environment from carrying out the Proposed Action as well as each alternative.
   
• Significance of Impacts - The significance of the impacts is determined.

Before a Draft EIS/OEIS can be released to the public, the document undergoes review by various Naval agencies. Once approved and the decision has been made to file an EIS/OEIS, copies of the Draft EIS/OEIS must be sent to all interested parties and individuals identified in the distribution list, if certification of the distribution is required at the time of filing with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft EIS/OEIS is also to be provided at the time of filing.

Public and Agency Review of a Draft EIS/OEIS - The public comment period for a Draft EIS/OEIS lasts at least 45 days, beginning with the date on which the NOA appears in the Federal Register.  To provide you with the opportunity to comment.

• Three public hearings on the Draft EIS/OEIS will be held by NSWC PCD.  You will be formally asked to comment at this time on the information in the document.  Regardless of the past effort, the team will take your comments on the Draft EIS/OEIS into consideration.

Preparation and Issuance of a Final EIS/OEIS - After the close of the public review and comment period on the Draft EIS/OEIS, the NSWC PCD will prepare a Final EIS/OEIS by modifying the Draft EIS/OEIS based on consideration of the comments received from the public and interested agencies and organizations.

• Where the comments expose previously unrecognized impacts or changes to identified environmental impacts, the Final EIS/OEIS will include additional appropriate and sufficient analysis.

Once the Final EIS/OEIS has been drafted, the appropriate Naval agencies will receive the document and file it with the EPA.  The EPA will then publish the NOA of the the Final EIS/OEIS in the Federal Register.  This publication initiates the 30-day review process.  No action related to the EIS/(OEIS may be undertaken by NSWC PCD during the time that the public has to review the final document.

Preparation and Issuance of a Record of Decision (ROD) - The NSWC PCD's Commanding Officer then decides what action to take once a Final EIS/OEIS has been released.  A ROD is drafted and must be approved by all impacted Naval agencies.  Then arrangements for publication in the Federal Register will be made.  The signed ROD will be distributed to all interested parties.