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CHAPTER II GENERAL APPROACH TO THE WORK Co\) w o o procedures covering every aspect of activity within the Service. These are updated periodically as needed to keep pace with the changing needs ,of the Service and the state of the art of water and P9wer resource development. National Environmental Policy Act The National Environmental Policy 'Act (NEPA) is the basic National char- ter for protection of the environment. It establishes policy, sets goals and provides means for carrying out the policy. Section ~02(2)(c) requires Fed- eral agencies to act in accordance with the spirit of the law and to prepare an environmental statement on any major Federa1,action. The NEPA process is intended to help public officials make decisions that are based on understand~ ing the potential environmental consequences, and take, actions that protect, restore, and enhance the environment. ' The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)'published regulations for im~ plementation of the act that set forth the directives to achieve the above goal. These regulations, which took effect July 30, 1979, stress concentra- tion on truly significant environmental issues rather than amassing of infor- mation. They also require early public involvement, early availability of en- vironmental information, and the consideration of mitigation of environmental impacts. In addition, CEQ regulations mandate a scoping process to help iden- tify significant issues and a comparative analysis of all reasonable alterna- tives. Procedures, page limits, and formats ar~ also suggested. Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act Title II of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act (Public Law 93-320) passed on June 24, 1974, directed the Secretary of Interior to imple- ment a salinity control policy adopted for the Colorado River. The policy essentially adopted the "Conclusions and Recomm~ndations" published in the Proceedings of the Reconvened Seventh SessionoI the Conference in the Matter of Pollution ,of the Interstate Waters' of the Colorado River and its Tributaries in the States of California, Colorado, ,Utah, Arizona, Nevada,New Mexico, and Wyoming, held in Denver, Colorado, April 26-27,,1972, under the authority of section 10 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1160) and approved by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency on, June 9" 1972. The Secretary was further directed to expedite the investiga-- tion, planning, and implementation of the salinity control program generally as described in Chapter VI of the Secretary I s report entitled, "Colorado River Water Quality Improvement Program, February 197Z." He was further directed to expedite completion of planning reports on 12 Units. The Glenwood-Dotsero Springs Ur!it (Point Source Control) was included in the 12 named units (a thirteenth was later added) that required planning reports to be completed and submitted to the Congress with the Secretary's recommendations. 7 ";,' . . .