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Leopold Report PDF
Leopold Report PDF
FOR EVALUATING
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Copy is PUBLIC PROPERTY an£ Is not
to bo rar:ov£!«? f.ror tho official filss:
PRIVATE POSSES 101? IS Ut&AWFUL
(R. S. Sup. Vol. 2
Washington 1977
United States Department of the Interior
ROGERS C. B. MORION, Secretory
Geological Survey
W. A. Radl'mski, Acfmg D/recftw
Man cannot survive on this planet without utilizing its natural resources
prudently. Every human action affects the world around us in some degree
and the full effect is difficult to assess because of complex relations among
living and nonliving things. Under the circumstances one can neither expect
to restore the entire past nor preserve the entire present for future
generations. However all can and should strive for proper balance between
resource development and maintenance of pleasant surroundings.
The Environmental Quality Act of 1969 and the reports on
environmental assessment that it requires are aimed at insuring such a
balanced approach. To be effective we must provide a system for relating
large numbers of actions and environmental factors and for placing value
judgments on impacts which are difficult to quantify.
At my request the Geological Survey has developed an information
matrix system that is described and modeled in this Circular. It is published
with the thought that it will serve as a useful guide for environmental impact
reporting and as a systematic reference. Those who share with us the desire
to retain or improve the quality of our environment will recognize that this
report is a sincere but still preliminary effort to fill an interim need. We hope
that suggestions from others will improve this framework.
ROGERS C. B. MOETON
Secretary of the Interior
A Procedure for Evaluating Environmental Impact
By Luna B. Leopold, Frank E. Clarke, Bruce B. Hanshaw, and James R. Balsky
PREAMBLE
cently, society has recognized that in addition
In a recent article in "Science" discussing the En-
vironmental Policy Act of 1969, Gillette (1971) states to these customary economic analyses and dis-
"The law's instructions for preparing an impact re- cussions of need, there should be a detailed as-
port apparently are not specific enough to insure that sessment of the effect of a proposed develop-
an agency will fully, or even usefully, examine the ment on the environment and thus its ecologi-
environmental effects of the projects it plans." This cal, separate from its monetary, benefits and
report contains a procedure that may assist in develop-
ing uniform environmental impact statements. The costs; put together, these assessments comprise
Department of the Interior and the Council on Environ- an Environmental Impact Statement. The prep-
mental Quality will appreciate comments on the pro- aration of a Statement should be done by a
cedure here proposed. team of physical and social scientists and engi-
The heart of the system is a matrix which is gen- neers ; likewise, reviews of statements will gen-
eral enough to be used as a reference checklist or a
reminder of the full range of actions and impacts on erally require an interdisciplinary team effort.
the environment that may relate to proposed actions. The Environmental Policy Act of 1969 directs
The marked matrix also serves as an abstract of the all agencies of the Federal Government to
text of the environmental assessment to enable the "identify" and develop methods and proced-
many reviewers of impact reports to determine quickly ures which will insure that presently un-
what are considered to be the significant impacts and quantified environmental amenities and values
their relative importance as evaluated by the origina-
tor of the impact report. are given appropriate consideration in decision-
Many exhaustive studies of the use of matrices making along with economic and technical con-
for environmental studies are now being undertaken. siderations". The Council on Environmental
(See Sorensen, 1971.) This comparatively simple sys- Quality, in furtherance of Section 102 of the
tem is intended as a guide for the many people who Act, has set forth guidelines for the prepara-
are faced with the evaluation and preparation of en-
vironmental impact reports before the results of these tion of the required environmental statements.
studies have been completed. It should be borne in It is recommended in these guidelines that the
mind that there is presently no uniformity in approach second item to be included in the statement is
or agreement upon objectives in an impact analysis "the probable impact of the proposed action on
and this generalized matrix is a step in that direction.
The procedure does not limit the development of de-
the environment".
tail in any specific aspect of the environment; a sepa- This circular suggests an approach to accom-
rate expanded matrix for any environmental aspect plish that specific requirement by providing a
can easily be developed within the framework provided. system for the analysis and numerical weight-
ing of probable impacts. This type of analysis
INTRODUCTION does not produce an overall quantitative rating
In any proposal for construction or develop- but portrays many value judgments. It can also
ment, it is the usual practice, both from the serve as a guide in preparing the statement
standpoint of engineering and economics, to called for under Section 102(2) (c) of the Act.
prepare an analysis of the need for the devel- A primary purpose is to insure that the impact
opment and the relationship between its mone- of alternative actions is evaluated and con-
tary costs and monetary benefits. More re- sidered in project planning.
DEVELOPMENT OF AN ACTION PROGRAM; of degree, extensiveness, or scale. For example,
GENERALIZED PROCEDURE highway development will alter or affect the
Evaluating the environmental impact of an existing drainage pattern and may thus have
action program or proposal is a late step in a a large magnitude of impact on the drainage.
series of events which can be outlined in the The second is a weighting of the degree of im-
following manner. Figure 1 is a flow chart of portance (i.e. significance) of the particular
the recommended sequence of events which re- action on the environmental factor in the spe-
sult in an environmental impact statement. The cific instance under analysis. Thus the overall
sequence is discussed briefly below and that importance of impact of a highway on a partic-
portion which deals with impact assessment is ular drainage pattern may be small because
expanded in more detail later in the text: the highway is very short or because it will not
interfere significantly with the drainage. De-
A. A statement of the major objective pending upon the thoroughness and scope of
sought by the proposed project. the report inventorying existing environmental
B. The technologic possibilities of achieving conditions, the analysis of magnitude of impact,
the objective are analyzed. though in some details subjective, can never-
C. One or more actions are proposed for theless be factual and unbiased. It should not
achieving the stated objective. The alternative include weights which express preference or
plans which were considered as practicable bias.
ways of reaching the objective are spelled out The importance of each specific environ-
in the proposal. mental impact must include consideration of
D. A report which details the characteristics the consequences of changing the particular
and conditions of the existing environment condition on other factors in the environment.
prior to the proposed action is prepared. In Again, the adequacy of the report under D
some cases, this report may be incorporated would affect the objectivity in the assignment
as part of the engineering proposal. of the values for specific environmental condi-
E. The principal engineering proposals are tions. Unlike magnitude of impact, which can
finalized as a report or series of separate re- be more readily evaluated on the basis of facts,
ports, one for each plan. The plans ordinarily evaluation of the importance of impact gen-
have analyses of monetary benefits and costs. erally will be based on the value judgment of
F. The proposed plan of action, usually the the evaluator. The numerical values of magni-
engineering report, together with the report tude and importance of impact reflect the best
characterizing the present environment, sets estimates of pertinence of each action.
the stage for evaluating the environmental im- G. The text of the environmental impact re-
pact of the proposal. If alternative ways of port should be an assessment of the impacts
reaching the objective are proposed in C and of the separate actions which comprise the
if alternative engineering plans are detailed in project upon various factors of the environ-
the engineering report, separate environmental ment and thus provide justification for the de-
impact analyses must deal with each alterna- terminations presented in F. Each plan of ac-
tive. If only one proposal is made in the engi- tion should be analyzed independently.
neering report, it is still necessary to evaluate
environmental impacts. H. The Environmental Impact Statement
The environmental impact analyses require should conclude with a summation and recom-
the definition of two aspects of each action mendations. This section should discuss the rel-
which may have an impact on the environment. ative merits of the various proposed actions
The first is the definition of the magnitude of and alternative engineering plans and explain
the impact upon specific sectors of the environ- the rationale behind the final choice of action
ment. The term magnitude is used in the sense and the plan for achieving the stated objective.
A. Statement of objective
8. Technologic possibilities
for achieving objective
O. Environmental characteri-
zation report prior to
initiation of action
£. Alternative engineering
plans
Ictentification of impact
and analysis of magnitude
and importance of impact.
G. Assessment of impact
H. Recommendations
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I A. 2. d. Water quality
I A. 3. a. Atmospheric quality
I A. 4. b. Erosion
I A. 4. c. Deposition, Sedimentation
I B. 1. b. Shrubs
I B. 1. c. Grasses
I B. l.f. Aquatic Plants
I B. 2. c. Fish
I C. 2. e. Camping and hiking
I C. 3. a. Scenic views and vistas
I C. 3. b. Wilderness qualities
I C. 3. h. Rare and unique species
I C. 4. b. Health and safety
10
sibility of "accidental spills and leaks." The roads and that protection against erosion is
planned "surface excavation" is off-channel included in the design of the mining operation.
and was, therefore, assigned magnitude 2. Be- Shrubs (I. B. 1. b.) and grasses (I. B. 1.
cause of the ephemeral nature of the streams, c.).—The disturbance of native "shrubs" and
the importance of the excavation in affecting "grasses" is important only on the area which
water quality was rated 2 also. is going to be physically disturbed by the min-
The same reasoning applies to the "emplace- ing. Because vegetation change would occur
ment of tailings" which are off-channel and not only on parts of the 2,434 acre lease over the
of a noxious character. "Spills and leaks" were life of the project and revegetation is part of
considered sufficiently rare to be assigned the scheduled project, the magnitude and im-
magnitude 1, but if they occurred, they would portance are both rated low.
be moderately important and, therefore, given Aquatic plants (I. B. 1. /.).—"Aquatic
a value of 4. plants" do not occur in the ephemeral streams
In actual practice, any of the identified im- near the plant site but do occur in the portion
pacts can be expanded to produce secondary of the main stream some miles down valley
matrices which can cover greater detail than where Sespe Creek is perennial. Any effect on
is possible on plate I or figure 2 if the analysts "aquatic plants" reaching that far down-
or reviewer feels the need to do so. As an ex- stream would come from "excavation" and
ample, expanding the matrix items related to from "emplacement of tailings." The distance
"water quality," the relative magnitude and to the perennial stream indicated low values
importance of different specific actions may be for magnitude, but a moderate value for im-
more clearly shown than by merely using the portance in the case of "spills."
main headings in the matrix. The example (fig. Fish (I. B. 2. C.).—The same reasoning that
3) indicates how expansion may show details governed the assessment of impact on
pertinent to the individual situation. Addi- "aquatic plants" applies also to "fish" which
tionally, water quality could also be expanded persists only some miles downstream where
into subcategories such as pH, dissolved oxy- Sespe Greek is perennial and the probable im-
gen, turbidity, etc. pacts are rated low.
Camping and Hiking (I. C. 2. e.).—The only
Atmospheric quality (I. A. 3. a.).—"Mineral alteration involving "camping and hiking" is
processing" would be the principal source of caused by "surface excavation." Owing to the
degradation in atmospheric quality. Its mag- small area to be affected, its magnitude is rated
nitude was rated 2 owing to the small size of 2, but its importance was considered moderate
the plant and the absence of other industrial and rated 4 because any environmental change
operations. Its importance, however, was rated that interrupts recreational use of public land
3 because of the sulphuric nature of the gases in a highly populated State is relatively impor-
produced. tant.
Erosion (I. A. 4. b.) and deposition (I. A. 4. Scenic Views and Vistas (II. C. 3. a.).—This
c.).—Some "erosion" and thus some channel is one of the characteristics that is most seri-
"deposition" will be caused by the construc- ously impacted by the proposed development.
tion of "highways and bridges" and by the "Scenic views" are impaired in quality owing
"emplacement of tailings." The sandy nature to "industrial buildings," "highways and
of the washes in the area and thus naturally bridges," "transmission lines," "surface exca-
high sediment loads give both "erosion" and vation," "trucking," and "emplacement of tail-
"deposition" caused by the project a relatively ings." All these have a low to moderate value
low importance. The magnitude and impor- of magnitude and generally a somewhat higher
tance of each were relatively low owing to the figure for importance. Compared with any of
fact that the mining operation would involve the previous items, the actions impacting
the construction of less than 2 miles of new "scenic views and vistas" are more numerous.
11
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tion was assessed as 5 and importance as 10. and would be unaffected by night-time traffic,
Health and safety (I. C. 4. b.).—"Health that magnitude-importance impact might be
and safety" would be impacted primarily by significantly reduced. Assume also that as an-
the increase in "trucking" on the highway as other step to reduce impact, the company de-
a result of mine operation. cided to mat the ground surface prior to any
Summary.—Inspection of figure 2 immedi- rock blasting. If this step were deemed effec-
ately gives the essence of the matrix analysis: tive, matrix entry of 5/10 of blasting on rare
the proposed actions which have the most en- and unique species might perhaps reduce the
vironmental impacts are the construction of entry at 1/10. These changes may, in one sense,
"highways and bridges," the "blasting," "sur- appear to be minor, but in fact would cause a
face excavation," "mineral processing," "truck- significant reduction in impact on the specific
ing," and the "emplacement of tailings." The environmental factor shown to be most
enviromental characterisitcs most frequently affected.
impacted are those of "scenic views and vista,"
"wilderness qualities," and "rare and unique REFERENCES
species." Council on Environmental Quality, 1971, Statements
As an outcome of this matrix analysis, the on proposed Federal actions affecting the environ-
reviewers could ask the petitioners for the ment: Federal Register, v. 36, no. 19, p. 1398-
phosphate project "What actions can you take 1402 and no. 79, p. 7724-7729.
Gillette, Robert, 1971, Trans-Alaska pipeline: Impact
to reduce these possible impacts to lower lev- Study Receives Bad Reviews: Science, v. 171, Mar.
els?" if the impact is deemed sufficiently great. 19.
As an example, assume that the company, in Sorensen, J. C., 1971, A framework for identification
light of the comparative values shown in the and control of resource degradation and conflict
simplified matrix, decided to substitute for in the multiple use of the coastal zone: Univ. of
Calif., Berkeley, Dept. of Landscape Architecture,
daytime trucking, a night-time only schedule M. S. thesis, p. 42; in press, Univ. of Calif. Press.
for moving supplies and products. If it were (Contains a state-of-the-art review of matrix use
known that condors soar only during the day in environmental studies)
GPO 911-288
13