What specific strategies are most effective in addressing indirect and cumulative impacts and streamlining the project development process?
Accurate environmental impact assessment is highly dependent on the use of appropriate methodology. It is generally recognized among Federal agencies and practitioners that specific methodologies for the assessment of indirect and cumulative impacts, particularly for predicting reasonable foreseeable impacts, are not as well established or universally accepted as those associated with direct impacts, such as traffic noise analysis and wetland delineation. Determining the most appropriate technique for assessing indirect and cumulative impacts of a specific project should include communication with the cooperating agencies and NEPA participants (See 40 CFR ยง 1503.3). For this reason and others, scoping and interagency coordination are important aspects of the NEPA project development process where cumulative and indirect impacts are a concern. Special attention should be given to these activities to improve our ability to address cumulative and indirect impact expectations and streamlin
