Cumulative Impact Analysis
National Environmental Policy Act Tools for Powerful Planning Using Cumulative Impact Analyses
Methodologies and Best Practices Workshop
Midwest Natural
Resources Group
July 19-22, 2004
Updated October 2005
EPA Region 5; Chicago,
Illinois
About the workshop
The Midwest Natural Resources Group (MNRG), a consortium of Federal agencies in the Midwest, sponsored a 3-day workshop that focused on successful and effective methods to identify and evaluate cumulative impacts of Federally-sponsored projects compliant with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Cumulative Impact Methodologies and Best Practices Workshop: National Environmental Policy Act was an interactive workshop with concurrent breakout sessions in which participants determined and evaluated cumulative impacts for a natural resource restoration project and a transportation project, each concurrent session tailored specifically for the participating agencies. This workshop focused on applying effective environmental impact analysis strategies, including cumulative impact analyses, to agency planning efforts. The emphasis on cumulative impact analyses included CEQ and EPA cumulative impact guidance, court decisions and precedents, and effective tools and processes for determining the scope of cumulative impacts and conducting and documenting practical and effective cumulative impact analyses as part of NEPA planning processes.
Working with the MNRG, the workshop was presented and facilitated by Judith Lee, President of Environmental Planning Strategies, Inc., Pleasant Valley, Iowa; Dr. Heidi West, President of Total Quality NEPA, Boulder, Colorado; and Dr. James Westervelt, US Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL), Champaign, Illinois. Presenter biographies (PDF) (1pg, 24K)
Agencies involved in the first workshop included: Federal Highway Administration/State Dept. of Transportation (Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio); US Forest Service (Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New Hampshire); Federal Aviation Administration (Illinois); Natural Resources Conservation Service (Iowa, Wisconsin); US Army Corps of Engineers (Illinois, Minnesota, Louisiana); US Fish and Wildlife Service (Illinois); National Park Service (Alaska, Colorado, Illinois); Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois, Texas, California); Bureau of Land Management (Wisconsin); and the Chicago Transit Authority.
This site contains presentations by the consultants at the workshop, an annotated bibliography of cumulative impact literature, evaluations of the results of the case studies, guidance for selecting appropriate analysis models and information on some of the available models, and useful links to the internet, in an easy-to-use format.
Please use the links in the menu to the left to navigate around the site. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the documents; most web browser will work for the hypertext links to the internet.
We hope that you continue to find this information very helpful!