Environmental Process
Environmental Inventory

Environmental Process

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 requires that a project using federal funds or seeking approval from a federal agency analyze a range of alternatives and consider the effects on the natural, cultural, and social environments within the project area.  While the Midcounty Corridor Study is going to be funded through the County, the project will require a permit from the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) to comply with the Clean Water Act.  Therefore, the USACE is the lead federal agency for the project and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) are concurring agencies on the project.

The NEPA process serves as a guide during the development of the project for the management, deliverables, and concurrence points.  The NEPA process is outlined in the following steps.

STEP 1: Purpose and Need
Identify the purpose and needs for the study.  The January 2007 Purpose and Need Statement documents the need for the Midcounty Corridor Study. 

STEP 2: Environmental Inventory and Range of Preliminary Alternatives
Conduct an environmental inventory of existing conditions and identify a range of preliminary alternatives. An inventory of resources includes existing and known wetlands and streams, historic resources, community facilities, and neighborhoods.  The results of this step will be presented at the Public Workshop on December 12, 2007.

STEP 3: Identify Alternatives Retained for Detailed Study 

Identify the alternatives retained.  Further analysis is done on these alternatives including revisions to the alignments and engineering details to better serve the project Purpose and Need and avoid or minimize direct impacts (physical and noise impacts) to social, cultural, and natural resources.  Following the Public Workshop, this step will be completed after receiving public and resource agency input.  Current project schedule calls for this step to be completed in March 2009.

STEP 4: Draft Environmental Document and Public Hearing
The alternatives analysis is documented in a Draft Environmental Document which is published and made available for public comment and agency review.  The schedule for this step is pending.

STEP 5: Identify Selected Alternative and Final Environmental Document
After a public hearing on the draft document, the DPW&T will identify a selected alternative and refine this alignment based on public and agency comments to further avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts.  These refinements will be documented in the Final Environmental Document.  The County, State and Federal Agencies will make their final review and approval of the Selected Alternative.  The schedule for this step is pending.

This concludes Midcounty Corridor Study (MCS) Facility Planning, Phase I Study.

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Environmental Inventory

The environmental inventory includes identifying known social, natural, and cultural resources using GIS databases from county, state, and federal agencies.  These mapped resources are verified with field surveys. The inventoried resources include but are not limited to:

Natural Resources: wetlands, streams, floodplains, forests, and farmlands;
Cultural Resources: historic properties and anticipated prehistoric and historic archeological sites;
Community Resources: parks, schools, churches, and properties affected; and
Other Resources: hazardous materials, noise, and air quality.

A more detailed environmental analysis will be conducted concurrently with the detailed engineering of the retained alternatives which focuses on ways to avoid, minimize, and mitigate resource impacts.  The detailed environmental analysis is updated and supplemented with field-gathered data.  The environmental analysis for each alternative will be documented in the Draft and Final Environmental Documents.

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