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<br />5. COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION <br /> <br />Before cloud seeding is initiated, the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of <br />1969 (PL 91-190), as amended, must be satisfied. Environmental protection is a mandate of every <br />Federal agency and department. Federal NEPA requirements are described in the Council on <br />Environmental Quality (CEQ), Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National <br />Environmental Policv Act (40 CFR Parts 1 000-1508). Weather modification programs must comply if <br />they include financial or regulatory participation by the Federal Government, or affects lands managed by <br />Federal agencies. A brief summary ofNEPA issues is discussed here. A more thorough treatment is <br />presented in appendix D of a report by Sup1er et al (1993). <br /> <br />The proposed program faces compliance for the design phase, at an expected low complexity level, and at <br />a higher complexity level for the operational seeding phase. The design phase seeding will assume <br />operations for limited periods of only two winters, changes in snowfall from seeding within the natural <br />precipitation variation of the Headwaters Region, disturbances at ground-level to be minimal, adherence <br />to any special use application procedures that may apply, environmental monitoring at a high level on any <br />seeding trials, and public involvement to bt:: an important component of the program. Furthermore, <br />considerable environmental information exists for the Headwaters Region and similar surrounding areas <br />that will reduce the data collection for describing the Region's environment for various resource <br />categories. <br /> <br />In the operational phase, the proposed cloud seeding project is expected to increase the mean winter <br />precipitation on the order of 10 to 15 percent primarily over higher terrain. The variance of high- <br />elevation precipitation may be slightly reduced (naturally very wet years would be little impacted but <br />very low and low years would be less extreme). Cloud seeding would be more intensive in time and <br />spa.ce, and more seeding equipment would be installed. Impacts on the environment will likely warrant <br />additional consideration. Furthermore, there has been some prior controversy regarding cloud seeding in <br />the Park Range (more recently, as part of the caSE experiments). The CEQ regulations' (1508.27) <br />criteria for significant impacts include thos(~ which are "highly controversial" or "uncertain." <br />Environmental data acquisition must begin in the first stages of the program, and adequate data amounts <br />must be collected for compliance with NEPA policy. <br /> <br />An important limitation that the proposed project must observe, indicates that a NEP A compliance <br />document must be approved prior to any action that may affect or preclude possibly reasonable <br />alternatives to the proposed action (appendix D of Super el aI, 1993). In fact, actions are forbidden that <br />may advance the program to an irretrievabh~ point prior to compliance approval. Consequently, no cloud <br />seeding or significant disturbance of ground or vegetation can occur until NEP A requirements are <br />satisfied. However, temporary placement of precipitation and some other measuring devices can be <br />accomplished under Forest Service and/or the Bureau of Land Management special use permits. <br /> <br />There are three levels ofNEPA compliance that the program's proposed actions may need to address. <br />These are in increasing levels of complexity, a categorical exclusion (CE), environmental assessment <br />(EA), and environmental impact statement (EIS). The EA and EIS formats include (1) purpose and need <br />for action, (2) alternatives including proposed action, (3) affected environment, (4) environmental <br />consequences, and (5) coordination/consultation. Dealing with items (2) through (4) can involve <br />substantial data collection and analysis. The CE has no standard format but usually includes a description <br />of the proposed actions and an explanation of why the actions are environmentally nonmanipulative. <br /> <br />The proposed program may attempt to obtain a CE for the limited test seeding of the design phase. <br /> <br />30 <br />