How the Programmatic EIS Will Be Prepared

The Upper Great Plains Wind Energy Programmatic EIS (PEIS) will be prepared according to the terms of regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act.

The President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has issued regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. These regulations identify the steps that must be taken in the preparation of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). These steps are:

1. A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare the PEIS is published in the Federal Register. (Note: the NOI for the Wind Energy PEIS is also available on the Documents page of this Web site.)



2. The NOI announces a scoping period during which written and other comments on the content of the PEIS are gathered, including statements made at public meetings.



3. A Draft PEIS is prepared, which, at a minimum, includes:
1. Summary;
2. Purpose of and need for action;
3. Alternatives, including proposed action;
4. Affected environment; and
5. Environmental consequences.


4. A Notice of Availability (NOA) is published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Federal Register announcing the distribution of the Draft PEIS and a public comment period. Additional information describing how the public can comment, including the location and schedule of public meetings on the Draft PEIS, will be published in an agency-published NOA on this Web site.



5. A Final PEIS is prepared that includes descriptions of public comments on the draft and discussions on how they were addressed in the Final PEIS.



6. An NOA is published by EPA in the Federal Register notifying the public that the Final PEIS has been issued.



7. A Record of Decision (ROD) is published in the Federal Register no sooner than 30 days after publication of the Final PEIS. The ROD describes the agency's decision regarding the proposed action.

The Draft and Final PEIS documents, the Notices of Intent and Availability, and agency-specific RODs will be available for downloading and browsing on the Documents page when they are published.

Approach for the Upper Great Plains Wind Energy PEIS

Many of the impacts resulting from wind energy infrastructure development, including siting wind turbines, access roads, underground collector lines, overhead lines, and substations, are well known. Similarly, effective mitigation measures and best management practices have been developed to reduce the environmental impacts of constructing and operating wind-energy developments. The Programmatic EIS will collect and analyze this information as it applies to wind-energy development in the six states included in the UGP Region. See What's in the PEIS for a list of PEIS objectives.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321) (NEPA), and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), 1501.5(b), Western and the Service will be joint lead agencies in the preparation of the Programmatic EIS. Western and the Service will consult under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act in support of the Programmatic EIS process. The Service intends to prepare a Programmatic Biological Opinion as a result of this consultation.