Cumulative Impact Analysis
MNRG Conducts Multi-Agency Training on Common Programmatic Issues
A workshop entitled "Cumulative Impacts Methodologies and Best Practices Workshop" was held on July 19-22, 2004 in Chicago, Illinois .
The workshop was developed to help agencies address an issue that was common to all members of the MNRG: how to do credible, informative analyses of cumulative environmental impacts from proposed federal actions.
The purpose of the workshop was to assist Federal agencies within the Midwest with understanding cumulative impact methodologies and practices so that the information could be used to improve analyses in those agencies' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents.
A multi-agency workgroup was tasked by MNRG to develop the workshop. That workgroup drafted a course agenda, solicited proposals, and selected a contractor to prepare and deliver a workshop to meet the needs of the participating agencies.
Seventy participants from 14 agencies attended. Workshop attendees participated in lectures, case studies, and guest speaker presentations of methods used for assessing cumulative impacts. They were also given copies of workshop materials on CD, including course materials such as existing software tools, literature reviews of methodologies, and other analysis tools. To extend the reach of this information to other interested staff, a similar version of the CD materials is available online.
Contacts
Sherry Kamke, USEPA, 312-353-5794, kamke.sherry@epa.gov
Ken Westlake, USEPA, 312-886-2910, westlake.kenneth@epa.gov