ENV405
- ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Spring
2003
SYLLABUS
Instructor:
Dr. Alan Goldin;
Room: CSC106B
Office hours: MWF 10 A.M., T 1 P.M.
Phone:
592-5015 (goldina@jaynet.wcmo.edu)
Class:
W
2-5 CSC303 and CSC110.
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CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
Tools,
methods, and techniques employed in the study of environmental impact
assessment and resource management.
Research fundamentals and related environmental legislation will
be
studied and applied to environmental problems and resource evaluation. The major product is the development of a
project requiring an EIS, researching the alternatives, gathering
information,
writing and presenting the report.
Note:
There may be slight alterations in this syllabus as the semester
progresses. Any changes will be
announced several times in class as well as announced on our Public
Folders web
site ENV405.
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:
Environmental
scientists, federal agencies, and land developers must cooperate in any
proposal
that will alter the environment in order to minimize its degradation. In order to assess any environmental
impacts, scientists must be 1) cognizant of current legislation and be
able to
search for any changes in the legislation, 2) know how to collect and
synthesize available data, 3) know how to use various techniques which
weigh
the importance of environmental factors related to the proposed
projects and/or
actions, 4) know how to organize scientific data as well as to evaluate
collected data and to communicate the information to others in written
reports,
5) be sensitive to working with scientists from other disciplines in a
team
effort, and 6) know how to evaluate the reports of other environmental
scientists. The ultimate goal is to be
able to write and evaluate a report assessing environmental impacts. The purpose of this course is to develop the
student's skills in these areas.
Several class sessions will be given by
outside speakers.
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COURSE SCHEDULE:
DATE
TOPIC
January
15 Introduction. History of conservation; National
Environmental Policy Act
January
22 Background to
library. Library tour of legal documents,
government
documents, maps and atlases. NEPA -the
act, rationale, and regulations.
January
29
Completion
of EIS/EA regulations. Evaluation
techniques for
environmental
assessment, especially Leopold Matrix.
Job fair.
Assignment
1 due
February
5 National
Environmental Policy Act
and related federal legislation and history with Caroline Buenger.
February
19 Possible
speaker from state agency
to discuss EIS preparation. Leopold
matrix applications class; Crystal Lake, Florida exercise
Assignment
2 due
February
26
Environmental
Assessment in the field for
four-laning route F
March
5 Discussion of
Environmental Assessment for
four-laning route F.
Find an
EIS currently being undertaken. Discuss
and comment on it as a class.
Assignment
3 due; Notice of Intent due
March
12
Seattle
NOAA Environmental Impact Statement
March
19
EXAMINATION
Assignment
4 due
March
31-April 24 EIS
preparation, and
presentations and examples
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READING MATERIAL:
Required:
Eccleston, Charles. 1999. The NEPA Planning Process: A Comprehensive
Guide with
Emphasis on Efficiency. John Wiley and Sons.
Reserve:
How to Write Quality EISs and EAs. Guidelines for NEPA Documents.
Shipley
Associates. Bountiful, Utah. 1992
Reserve:
Kreske, Diori L. 1996. Environmental Impact Statements. A Practical
Guide for
Agencies, Citizens, and Consultants. John Wiley and Sons.
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OBJECTIVES:
The
principal focus of this course is to teach students how to prepare and
evaluate
Environmental Impact Statements, environmental assessments, and similar
reports. With this in mind the course
has the following objectives:
** 1)
understanding the importance of federal legislation, particularly the
National
Environmental Policy Act and the regulations issued to implement NEPA,
** 2)
competence in reviewing, assessing, and writing environmental impact
statements,
** 3)
competence in using the library, particularly the various scientific or
specialized abstracts/indices/bibliographies, for data collection to
organize,
assess, and write an E.I.S.,
** 4)
competence in using various techniques to analyze and weigh the
importance of
the many environmental factors which might be impacted in any
development,
** 5)
ability to work as a team member to organize an E.I.S. and to evaluate
the
contribution
of the other team members.
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REQUIREMENTS:
1. Exam
on federal legislation, environmental assessment, and library research. The exam is scheduled for March 19. There is **** NO **** makeup exam. Missing the exam will result in a grade of
zero. There is no final exam.
2.
Notice of Intent for project requiring environmental impact statement. Due March 5. Each
group must "notify" "the public" with a
proper public notification and hold a public hearing for scoping and
the draft
EIS (the presentation).
3.
Student comments ("the public") on scoping and NOI due March 12.
4.
Environmental Impact Statement on an approved topic working in groups
of two or
three. Examples of previous student
EISs will be on reserve in the library.
One person should be designated the Project Manager. The EIS should include a budget.
Follow format in EIS examples and the CEQ
guidelines. The group should either be
an agency or a consultant working for them.
One member should be an employee of a related agency. Get data from agencies or from the
Internet. Maintain records of who does
what and submit with the EIS.
5. EIS
Outline due March 19.
6. A 30
to 40 minute presentation by your group with 5 to 10 minutes for
questions. Papers will be presented
April 23. The DRAFT EIS should be
available for "the public" on April 16. I
will pay for the copying of each EIS up to 30 pages.
We may want to involve "other
public" besides other students in the class. Students
will assist in grading the presentations. As
"the public", you will be
almost as involved in the other EISs as on your own.
7.
Student comments ("the public") on DRAFT EIS due April 23.
8.
Final EIS due May 2. Make sure EIS is
word-processed, spell-checked, and PROOFREAD.
Obvious proofreading errors or typos will lose one point per
error.
9. Four
assignments using library or outside environmental resources, including
an
annotated bibliography and a group EIS.
Assignments will use our library, the MOBIUS system, and
standard
bibliographic techniques, federal legal documents for finding and
updating
existing legislation, searching environmental resources (books, maps,
and
others) for particular information, and other search procedures on the
Internet. Each of the assignments will
have a different level of difficulty and point value.
Students should remain in contact with each other to pass on
sources of information. Students will
receive extra credit for finding important sources of information. These will be discussed in class.
Assignment
Number Due
Date
Point
Value
1
January
29
50
2
February
19 75
3
March
5
100
4
March
19
75
Late
assignments are STRONGLY DISCOURAGED.
For full credit the assignments must be handed in by the due
date. Assignments handed in within one
week after
the due date will receive a maximum of 75% of the point total and
within two
weeks 50%. NO credit will be given for
assignments more than two weeks late.
10.
Class participation during presentation by outside speakers, the
instructor, and
fellow classmates is expected.
11.
Class attendance. Attending class is an
essential part of your grade. You are allowed one excused (or
unexcused)
absence. Each absence is worth 10
points. If you use <1 for the
semester, your attendance grade will be 100.
If you are absent 2 or more times, each absence will count its
grade
loss, so that with two absences, your attendance grade will be 80. It is YOUR responsibility to give me a
doctor's or coach's note for each and every absence.
This note MUST be delivered no later than the next class or the
absence counts as "unexcused."
The note from the coach can be similar to the following: "Mary
is
on the softball team. She missed your
class on February 4 due to her participation in a softball game in
Springfield,
Illinois." It MUST be signed and dated.
Similarly, the physician's note must be specific.
It is YOUR responsibility to get this note
delivered on time. It is also your
responsibility to sign in for class each day as well as to deliver ALL
assignments
on time. Lateness will result in a 10
point grade loss immediately after class ends and for each 24 hours
thereafter.
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GRADE DETERMINATION:
Due
Date
Assignments:
10%
January
29 to March 19
Notice
of Intent: 5% March 5
Comments
on NOI 5% March 12
EIS
Outline
5% March 19
Examination:
15%
March
19
Draft
EIS:
12% April
16
Comments
on Draft EIS
5%
April 23
EIS
presentation:
15% April
23
Final
EIS:
18% May
2
Attendance:
10% Wednesdays