What is an environmental impact statement?
An environmental impact statement (EIS), or EIS, is a document containing an analysis of the anticipated long-term and short-term effects on the natural and human environment from a proposed project, decision, or action. A typical EIS also includes an explanation of why the project or action is needed and what other options or alternatives were considered to meet that need. Most EISes are prepared to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), but some EISes are prepared for other reasons.The purpose of the EIS process is to inform both the FAA and the public of the impacts of the proposed airport before the decision is made on whether it will be built. An EIS requires the alternatives to the proposed airport site also be analyzed. These alternatives will allow the FAA to look at different options for airport sighting or design to minimize impacts or resource conflicts as much as possible. Additionally, the EIS must analyze a No Action Alternative, which is an alternative which would not construct the airport. The potential outcomes of the EIS process could be the FAA choosing any one of the alternative airport sites analyzed in the EIS, or choosing the No Action Alternative, with the consequence that no airport would be constructed. FAA’s choice will depend on which alternative best meets the project needs while minimizing impacts to both human and natural resources.
NEPA is an open disclosure process that seeks input from all interested parties. Visit our Contact Us page to let us know what you think or to sign up for regular project updates. Find out about upcoming community visits from the FAA team and see what members of the Angoon community have already told us.
Scientific studies are a key component of every EIS. Visit Key Resources We’re Studying to find out more about how Angoon’s resources are being studied. You can also read the scientific studies themselves by visiting Technical and Scientific Studies.
What is a reader-friendly EIS?
One of the most important goals of our project team is to create a document that can truly be read and understood by the public. The goal of the National Environmental Policy Act is "public disclosure." We feel that to genuinely achieve public disclosure, the environmental document must be meaningful and understandable to a wide range of people from different backgrounds and walks of life.With this goal in mind, we asked ourselves the question: how do we write a document that will appeal to many different “publics?” We know that the audience for this EIS is very diverse, and will include members of native communities; non-native residents of Southeast Alaska; business owners; scientists; members of environmental groups; employees of state, federal, and local agencies; and many other people with varied interests and concerns. Trying to provide the information that is of interest to all these different people in a way that is understandable to them is a big challenge.
We decided to meet this challenge with a number of techniques, but one of our guiding principles is the
concept of plain language. Plain language is intended to
communicate ideas simply and quickly, achieve understanding by the reader, and reduce the need for
additional explanation. It is critical to us that the public understand our document, and so the
information contained within needs to be plainly presented to the reader. As a government agency, it is
particularly important for the FAA to communicate in plain language. In 2010, President Obama signed the
Plain Writing Act of 2010, requiring agencies to write in plain language.How do you make complicated scientific and engineering studies "plain language?"
In order to write an EIS, many technical experts are brought in to conduct research and document their
results. These results are compiled in technical documents that are
available for anyone to read. These documents are often not easily understandable to people without past
training and expertise in specific fields of study. Because of this, we have asked the writers of our
reader-friendly EIS to explain these studies, using plain language, pictures, and visual aids such as
graphics. Sometimes our writers start very simply, by drawing pictures to show concepts, and gradually
working them into a visual representation that should be understandable to most people.After a process of collaborative discussion and explanation, we found that even tables of raw data—such as seen below—could be represented in a way that makes sense to most people.
After
The EIS will look similar to a web page. We find that many people are used to looking for and finding information in this format. The EIS document is not actually a web page, but you will be able to view it on a computer. It’s an “interactive PDF document” that will work like a web page because the reader will be able to:
- Navigate - "Navigation buttons" will allow you to move easily around the document
- Access related information - Hyperlinks embedded in the text will allow you to educate yourself as you read by jumping to supplemental information
- Learn new concepts as you read - Information boxes on the pages of the document will give context and information needed to understand the document. For example, "What is NEPA?"
- See information depicted in pictures as well as words - Relationships and concepts are "explained visually" whenever possible
Yes, you will be able to get a paper copy of the EIS. The law requires the FAA to make printed copies available. All the information in the electronic document can and will be printed for those who can’t access or use computers.