OVERVIEW OF THE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY’SREVISED DRAFT GUIDANCE ON CONSIDERATION OF GREENHOUSE GAS
EMISSIONS AND THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE INNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT REVIEWS
HORST GGRECZMIELASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR NEPAOVERSIGHT
FEDERAL NEPACONTACTS MEETING16JANUARY 2015UPDATED 23JANUARY 2015
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WHERE
RevisedDraftGuidanceforFederalDepartmentsandAgenciesonConsiderationofGreenhouseGasEmissionsandtheEffectsofClimateChangeinNEPAReviews
NEPA.GOV https://ceq.doe.gov “CurrentDevelopments”“CEQReleasesRevisedDraftGuidanceonGreenhouseGasesandClimateChange”
WHITEHOUSE.GOVwww.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq“Initiatives”“StepstoModernizeandReinvigorateNEPA”“RevisedDraftGuidanceforGHGEmissions”
FederalRegister https://federalregister.gov/a/2014‐3003579FR77801(December24,2014)
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WHEN – HOW TO APPROACH THE ANALYSIS
RevisedDraftGuidanceforFederalDepartmentsandAgenciesonConsiderationofGreenhouseGasEmissionsandtheEffectsofClimateChangeinNEPAReviews
Proportionality RelyonagencyexperienceandexpertisetodeterminewhetherananalysisofGHGemissionsandclimatechangeimpactswouldbeusefultothedecisionmaker andthepublic.
Applythe“ruleofreason”toensurethatthetypeandlevelofanalysisiscommensuratewiththeanticipatedenvironmentaleffectsofGHGemissionsandclimatechange,andthattheseeffectsaredeservingofstudy.
Scoping UsethetraditionalscopingprocesstoascertainwhetherconsiderationofGHGemissionsandclimatechangeimpactsisrelevanttotheproposedactionandtheextentofanalysisrequired.
AgencyDecisionTools Developagencypracticesandguidancebasedonproportionalityandtheruleofreasonthatframetheprocessbywhichtheappropriatetype,level,andextentofanalysisofGHGemissionsandclimatechangeimpactsaredetermined.
Providetherationaleforanalyzing/notanalyzingGHGemissionsandclimatechangeimpactsinNEPAdocumentation.
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HOW
RevisedDraftGuidanceforFederalDepartmentsandAgenciesonConsiderationofGreenhouseGasEmissionsandtheEffectsofClimateChangeinNEPAReviews
GHGEmissionsasaProxy UsetheprojectedquantityofGHGemissionsand,whenappropriate,thepotentialchangesincarbonsequestrationandstorage,asaproxyforassessingtheclimatechangeimpactsofaproposedaction.
ReferencePoint QuantitativeanalysisofGHGemissionsiswarrantedif≥25,000mt CO2‐eonanannualbasisareexpectedorquantificationiseasilyaccomplished. QualitativelyanalyzeGHGemissionsifquantitativeanalysisisnotusedandexplainwhy. ThereferencepointisnotasubstituteforadeterminationofsignificanceunderNEPA.Significanceisdeterminedbyconsideringthecontextandintensityfactorssetforthin40C.F.R.§ 1508.27.
HOW_______________________________________________________
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AvailabilityofTools Indeterminingwhetheraquantitativeorqualitativeanalysisiswarranted,quantifywhentoolsandappropriateinputdataareavailable.ManyreliableGHGaccountingtoolsandmethodsexisttodayandarewidelyavailable.
Quantitativevs.Qualitative Considertheruleofreason,referencepoint,andavailabilityoftoolsandinputdatawhendecidingwhetheraquantitativeanalysiswouldbeusefulfordistinguishingbetweenalternativesormitigationmeasures.
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EFFECTS
RevisedDraftGuidanceforFederalDepartmentsandAgenciesonConsiderationofGreenhouseGasEmissionsandtheEffectsofClimateChangeinNEPAReviews
Direct– Indirect Assesseffectscausedbytheproposedactionthatoccuratthesametimeandplace(“direct”)inadditiontothosethatoccurlaterintimebutarereasonablyforeseeable(“indirect”). Choosereasonabletemporalandspatialparametersfortheanalysisofpotentialeffectsthatwouldbestinformthedecision‐makingprocessandthepublic.
Upstream– Downstream Consideremissionsfromactivitiesthathaveareasonablyclosecausalrelationshiptotheproposedaction,suchasthosethatmayoccurasapredicatefortheproposedaction(“upstream”)andthosethatmayoccurasaconsequenceoftheproposedaction(“downstream”).
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EFFECTS
RevisedDraftGuidanceforFederalDepartmentsandAgenciesonConsiderationofGreenhouseGasEmissionsandtheEffectsofClimateChangeinNEPAReviews
Controlvs.Disclosure
DisclosethepotentialimpactsofGHGemissionsandclimatechangetothepublicanddecisionmakers whenhelpfulforcomparingalternativesormitigationmeasuressothatbetter,moreinformeddecisionscanbemade.
Disclosuregoesbeyondthoseactionsoverwhichtheagencyhascontrolorresponsibility– itincludeseffectsoutsidethecontroloftheagency;however,theagencyshouldclearlydistinguishthoseeffects.
ThereviseddraftguidancedoesnotestablishregulatoryrequirementsorcompelagenciestoprohibitorcurtailGHGemissions.InconformancewithNEPA’sbasicprinciples,itdoesnotmandateparticularresultsorinsistthatagenciesselectthealternativewiththeleastGHGemissionsandclimatechangeeffects.
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AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT
RevisedDraftGuidanceforFederalDepartmentsandAgenciesonConsiderationofGreenhouseGasEmissionsandtheEffectsofClimateChangeinNEPAReviews
EffectsofClimateChange– IPCC,USGCRPinteragencyefforts
ScientificresearchhasshownthatariseinglobalatmosphericGHGemissionconcentrationsissignificantlyaffectingtheEarth’sclimate.
Anticipatedeffectsofclimatechangeincludemorefrequentandintenseheatwaves,moreseverewildfires,degradedairquality,moreheavydownpoursandflooding,increaseddrought,greatersea‐levelrise,moreintensestorms,harmtowaterresources,harmtoagriculture,andharmtowildlifeandecosystems.
Describethecurrentandexpectedfuturestateoftheaffectedenvironmentbasedonavailableclimatechangeinformation,includingobservations,interpretiveassessments,predictivemodeling,scenarios,andotherempiricalevidence,inNEPAdocuments.
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AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT
RevisedDraftGuidanceforFederalDepartmentsandAgenciesonConsiderationofGreenhouseGasEmissionsandtheEffectsofClimateChangeinNEPAReviews
Sustainability
Designalternativesthataccountforpotentialclimatechangeeffectsonaproposedactionoverthecourseofitsanticipatedusefullife,especiallyifitwillbelocatedinanareathatisconsideredvulnerabletospecificeffectssuchassea‐levelrise.
Examinetheimpactsofclimatechangeonaproposedactionthatcouldaffectsensitivepopulationsorenvironmentalresources.
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BASELINE
RevisedDraftGuidanceforFederalDepartmentsandAgenciesonConsiderationofGreenhouseGasEmissionsandtheEffectsofClimateChangeinNEPAReviews
Context:local,regional,internationalPerformmeaningfulanalysesofGHGemissionsandclimatechangeimpacts.
Avoidrelyinguponboilerplatetextormerelycomparingtheestimatedquantityofemissionsfromaproposedactiontocalculatedquantitiesofglobalemissionsunless suchacomparisontrulywouldassistthepublicandthedecisionmaker.
Inadditiontoemployingtheruleofreasonandconductinganalysesthatareproportionaltoanticipatedimpacts,incorporateagencyemissionstargets,suchasapplicableFederal,state,tribal,orlocalgoalsforGHGemissionreductions,toprovideananalyticalframeofreference,anddiscusswhethertheexpectedemissionsareconsistentwithsuchgoals.
ShortTerm– LongTermConsiderboththeshort‐ andlong‐termeffectsandbenefitsoftheproposedactionbasedontheexpectedlifeoftheprojectandthedurationofthegenerationofemissions.
Suchconsiderationisappropriatebothintheanalysisofalternativesandmitigationmeasures.
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ADAPTATION/PREPAREDNESS
RevisedDraftGuidanceforFederalDepartmentsandAgenciesonConsiderationofGreenhouseGasEmissionsandtheEffectsofClimateChangeinNEPAReviews
OpportunitywithEarlyPlanningAnalyzepotentialGHGemissionsandclimatechangeeffectsearlyintheNEPAprocesstomaximizeopportunitiestoadjustalternativesandmitigationswhichwillultimatelyleadtomoreresilientproposedactions.
Sustainability– BroaderGHGGoalsProgrammaticorlandscapelevelNEPAreviewsthatsupportagencydecisionsaffectingbroadscalesshouldprovideanaggregateanalysisofGHGemissionsorclimatechangeeffectswhentrendsinchangingenvironmentalconditionscanbedetermined.AgenciesshouldalsodiscussbroadersustainabilityandGHGgoalssuchaspromotingenergyefficiency,avoidingorreducingGHGemissions,reducingtheuseofpetroleumproducts,andusingordevelopingrenewableenergy.
TiereddocumentscanincorporateanalysesinprogrammaticNEPAdocumentsbyreferenceanddemonstratehowaparticularproposedactionaffectsthebroadersustainabilityandGHGgoalsarticulatedintheprogrammaticdocument.
CEQisacceptingpubliccommentsontheRevisedDraftGuidancefor60daysthroughFebruary23,2015. Commentsmaybesubmitted: Onlineathttp://www.whitehouse.gov/webform/submit‐comments‐revised‐draft‐guidance‐greenhouse‐gas‐emissions‐and‐climate‐change‐impacts(seenextslidefordetails) [email protected] Inwritingto:
CouncilonEnvironmentalQuality,ATTN:HorstGreczmiel722JacksonPlace,NWWashington,DC20503
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