[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR6.506]
[Page 116-118]
TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
PART 6_PROCEDURES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COUNCIL ON
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ON THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT--
Subpart E_Environmental Review Procedures for Wastewater Treatment
Construction Grants Program
Sec. 6.506 Environmental review process.
(a) Review of completed facilities plans. The responsible official
shall ensure a review of the completed facilities plan with particular
attention to the EID and its utilization in the development of
alternatives and the selection of a preferred alternative. An adequate
EID shall be an integral part of any facilities plan submitted to EPA or
to a State. The EID shall be of sufficient scope to enable the
responsible official to make determinations on requests for partitioning
the environmental review process in accordance with Sec. 6.507 and for
preparing environmental assessments in accordance with Sec. 6.506(b).
(b) Environmental assessment. The environmental assessment process
shall cover all potentially significant environmental impacts. The
responsible official shall prepare a preliminary environmental
assessment on which to base a recommendation to finalize and issue the
environmental assessment/FNSI. For those States delegated environmental
review responsibilities under Sec. 6.514, the State responsible
official shall prepare the preliminary environmental assessment in
sufficient detail to serve as an adequate basis for EPA's independent
NEPA review and decision to finalize and issue an environmental
assessment/FNSI or to prepare and issue a notice of intent for an EIS/
ROD. The EPA also may require submission of supplementary information
before the facilities plan is approved if needed for its independent
review of the State's preliminary assessment for compliance with
environmental review requirements. Substantial requests for
supplementary information by EPA, including the review of the facilities
plan, shall be made in writing. Each of the following subjects outlined
below, and requirements of subpart C of this part, shall be reviewed by
the responsible official to identify potentially significant
environmental concerns and their associated potential impacts, and the
responsible official shall furthermore address these concerns and
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impacts in the environmental assessment:
(1) Description of the existing environment. For the delineated
facilities planning area, the existing environmental conditions relevant
to the analysis of alternatives, or to determining the environmental
impacts of the proposed action, shall be considered.
(2) Description of the future environment without the project. The
relevant future environmental conditions shall be described. The no
action alternative should be discussed.
(3) Purpose and need. This should include a summary discussion and
demonstration of the need, or absence of need, for wastewater treatment
in the facilities planning area, with particular emphasis on existing
public health or water quality problems and their severity and extent.
(4) Documentation. Citations to information used to describe the
existing environment and to assess future environmental impacts should
be clearly referenced and documented. These sources should include, as
appropriate but not limited to, local, tribal, regional, State, and
Federal agencies as well as public and private organizations and
institutions with responsibility or interest in the types of conditions
listed in Sec. 6.509 and in subpart C of this part.
(5) Analysis of alternatives. This discussion shall include a
comparative analysis of feasible alternatives, including the no action
alternative, throughout the study area. The alternatives shall be
screened with respect to capital and operating costs; direct, indirect,
and cumulative environmental effects; physical, legal, or institutional
constraints; and compliance with regulatory requirements. Special
attention should given to: the environmental consequences of long-term,
irreversible, and induced impacts; and for projects initiated after
September 30, 1978, that grant applicants have satisfactorily
demonstrated analysis of potential recreation and open-space
opportunities in the planning of the proposed treatment works. The
reasons for rejecting any alternatives shall be presented in addition to
any significant environmental benefits precluded by rejection of an
alternative. The analysis should consider when relevant to the project:
(i) Flow and waste reduction measures, including infiltration/inflow
reduction and pretreatment requirements;
(ii) Appropriate water conservation measures;
(iii) Alternative locations, capacities, and construction phasing of
facilities;
(iv) Alternative waste management techniques, including
pretreatment, treatment and discharge, wasterwater reuse, land
application, and individual systems;
(v) Alternative methods for management of sludge, other residual
materials, including utilization options such as land application,
composting, and conversion of sludge for marketing as a soil conditioner
or fertilizer;
(vi) Improving effluent quality through more efficient operation and
maintenance;
(vii) Appropriate energy reduction measures; and
(viii) Multiple use including recreation, other open space, and
environmental education.
(6) Evaluating environmental consequences of proposed action. A full
range of relevant impacts of the proposed action shall be discussed,
including measures to mitigate adverse impacts, any irreversible or
irretrievable commitments of resources to the project and the
relationship between local short-term uses of the environment and the
maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity. Any specific
requirements, including grant conditions and areawide waste treatment
management plan requirements, should be identified and referenced. In
addition to these items, the responsible official may require that other
analyses and data in accordance with subpart C which are needed to
satisfy environmental review requirements be included with the
facilities plan. Such requirements should be discussed whenever meetings
are held with Step 1 grantees or potential Step 3 or Step 2 = 3
applicants.
(7) Minimizing adverse effects of the proposed action. (i)
Structural and nonstructural measures, directly or indirectly related to
the facilities plan, to mitigate or eliminate adverse effects
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on the human and natural environments, shall be identified during the
environmental review. Among other measures, structual provisions include
changes in facility design, size, and location; non-structural
provisions include staging facilities, monitoring and enforcement of
environmental regulations, and local commitments to develop and enforce
land use regulations.
(ii) The EPA shall not accept a facilities plan, nor award grant
assistance for its implementation, if the applicant/grantee has not
made, or agreed to make, changes in the project, in accordance with
determinations made in a FNSI based on its supporting environmental
assessment or the ROD for a EIS. The EPA shall condition a grant, or
seek other ways, to ensure that the grantee will comply with such
environmental review determinations.
(c) FNSI/EIS determination. The responsible official shall apply the
criteria under Sec. 6.509 to the following:
(1) A complete facilities plan;
(2) The EID;
(3) The preliminary environmental assessment; and
(4) Other documentation, deemed necessary by the responsible
official adequate to make an EIS determination by EPA. Where EPA
determines that an EIS is to be prepared, there is no need to prepare a
formal environmental assessment. If EPA or the State identifies
deficiencies in the EID, preliminary environmental assessment, or other
supporting documentation, necessary corrections shall be made to this
documentation before the conditions of the Step 1 grant are considered
satisfied or before the Step 3 or Step 2+3 application is considered
complete. The responsible official's determination to issue a FNSI or to
prepare an EIS shall constitute final Agency action, and shall not be
subject to administrative review under 40 CFR part 30, subpart L.
[50 FR 26317, June 25, 1985, as amended at 51 FR 32612, Sept. 12, 1986]
