1. If the Division
determines that a water project is ineligible for a categorical exclusion, the
applicant shall prepare an environmental assessment for the water project. The
environmental assessment may make reference to specific sections of the
application in lieu of duplicating information found in the
application.
2. The environmental
assessment must include, without limitation:
(a) A description of the proposed water
project;
(b) The purpose of the
proposed water project;
(c) A
summary description of the need for the proposed water project, including,
without limitation, a description of the severity and extent of existing public
health or water quality problems;
(d) A description of the environmental
setting of the proposed water project and prediction of what the future of the
environmental setting would be without the water project;
(e) A description of the full range of
relevant environmental impacts of the proposed action, including, without
limitation, a description of measures taken by the applicant to mitigate
adverse impacts and of any irreversible commitments of resources to the water
project;
(f) A comparative analysis
of feasible alternatives to the water project, including, without limitation,
the alternative that the water project not be constructed, reviewed with
respect to:
(1) Capital and operating
costs;
(2) Direct, indirect and
cumulative environmental effects;
(3) Physical, legal or institutional
constraints; and
(4) Compliance
with regulatory requirements;
(g) The reasons for rejecting any
alternative, including, without limitation, a description of any significant
environmental benefits that will be precluded by rejection of an
alternative;
(h) A description of
how any short-term detrimental impact to the environment in the short term is
justified by the maintenance and enhancement of the environment from the
long-term use of the facility;
(i)
Any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources to the proposed
water project;
(j) Documentation of
any activities, meetings or coordination between the applicant and the public
or any appropriate governmental agencies to identify and discuss issues
associated with the proposed water project and allow public and agency review
of the project;
(k) A summary of
any issues raised about, and changes made by the applicant to, the water
project that were made as a result of the activities, meetings or coordination
documented pursuant to paragraph (j);
(l) Sources of information that the applicant
used to describe the existing environment and to assess future environmental
impacts, including, without limitation, regional, state and federal agencies;
and
(m) Any other information or
documentation that the Division requests.
3. The environmental assessment must describe
any significant environmental effects that the applicant believes the proposed
water project will have.
4. The
effects that the applicant describes must include, without limitation:
(a) The primary, secondary and indirect
impacts of construction;
(b) The
cumulative impacts of the applicant's proposed water projects together with
other similar actions that have been taken, regardless of who has taken them;
and
(c) The impacts on:
(1) Threatened or endangered
species;
(2) Wetlands;
(3) Environmentally significant agricultural
land;
(4) Fish and
wildlife;
(5) Cultural
resources;
(6) Open
spaces;
(7) Environmentally
sensitive areas;
(8) Air
quality;
(9) Groundwater and
surface water quality and quantity;
(10) Land-use plans;
(11) Energy use;
(12) Long-term versus short-term trade-offs
of costs and benefits;
(13)
Accommodation of water projects to future population growth;
(14) Floodplains; and
(15) Areawide planning.
5. Water projects funded from the
Account for the Revolving Fund must conform to any state implementation plan or
air quality management district plan approved or promulgated pursuant to
42 U.S.C.
§§
7401 et seq.
6. The applicant shall make the draft
environmental assessment available for review and comment by the public in a
public participation process conducted pursuant to the provisions of NAC
445A.675875.
7. After the applicant
has conducted the public participation process required pursuant to the
provisions of subsection 6, the applicant shall submit to the Division:
(a) The draft environmental assessment;
and
(b) A summary of the results of
the public participation process, including, without limitation, any public
comments submitted to the applicant relating to the draft environmental
assessment.
Added to NAC by Bd. of
Health by R067-98, eff. 7-23-98; A by Environmental Comm'n by R128-04,
2-14-2005
