Laserfiche WebLink
1 <br />CHAPTERONE <br />Purpose and Need , <br />makers the authority to grant, conditionally grant, or deny individual permit applications. <br />Conditions may be applied to the approvals to avoid or mitigate environmental impacts identified <br />in the EIS. Table 1-1 lists the various government agencies with permitting authority. <br />1.5 PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND SLOPING <br />The BLM initiated the public scoping process in June 1998 to receive public and. agency <br />comment on the types of potential impacts from the proposed activities that should be addressed <br />in the EIS, the envirorunental and social resources that might be affected, and thc alternatives <br />that should be considered. Specifics regazding the scoping process for this analysis are discussed <br />in Chapter 6 of this EIS. <br />On August 12, 1998, the BLM and.Ainerican Soda conducted a community outreach effort to <br />acquaint the Garfield County Human Services Commission with details of the proposed Yankee <br />Gulch Sodium Minerals Project. They attended the group's regular montlily mecsting which was <br />discussing growth issues confronting the county. This outreach was actively sought by BLM and <br />American Soda to acquaint community leaders with the project and its effects an~i to assure that <br />its actions did not disproportionately affect Native American, minority, and/or low-income <br />populations. <br />In addition, the BLM NEPA Handbook (1988) requires that potential impacts be addressed for <br />the following twelve critical elements: <br />• Water Quality <br />• Floodplains <br />• Air Quality <br />• Farmlands, Prime/CJnique* <br />• Threatened and Endangered Species <br />• Wetlands/Riparian Zones <br />• Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) <br />• Wild and Scenic Rivers* <br />• Wilderness Areas* <br />• Native American Relations/Concerns <br />• Cultural Resources <br />• Wastes -Hazardous/Solid <br />The elements indicated by an asterisk (*) are not present in the Project Area. An %mpact analysis <br />is, therefore, not applicable for the Proposed Action or any of the alternatives. Native American <br />trust rights, per the Secretary of Interior directive and Executive Order 12898, are also not <br />relevant to the Proposed Project or alternatives. No direct or indirect effects are expected from <br />this project because no such rights have been identified in the Project Area. <br />1-4 <br />