Environmental Studies

Solutions for the Council Bluffs interstate system will balance engineering requirements with environmental and community issues. Federal, state and local environmental legislation and procedures will guide the evaluation of possible solutions.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process is being followed in developing the environmental documentation for the Council Bluffs Interstate System (CBIS) improvements project. NEPA is the federal legislation that provides for the protection of our environment. The NEPA process is intended to help public officials make decisions about projects with full knowledge of the consequences of those decisions on the natural and human environments. This process is designed to provide opportunities for resource agency and public input and have that input included in the information used by decision makers.

The NEPA process includes consideration of technical, social, economic and environmental factors. These factors are evaluated for beneficial and adverse impacts over the short- and long-term. Examples of some of the factors that may be evaluated as part of the CBIS improvements project include: public health and safety, community, minority and low-income households, residential and commercial relocations, cultural resources, public park areas and ecologically critical areas such as wetlands, threatened and endangered species or its habitat.

The NEPA process for the CBIS improvements project is being conducted in two tiers.

Tier 1 focused on the entire interstate system, identifying the needs of the system and developing alternatives to meet those needs. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was prepared to document the system study and the potential environmental impacts of implementing the Construction Alternative (the preferred alternative). The Tier 1 Draft and Final EISs are available for public review at the following locations:

• Council Bluffs Public Library
• Omaha Public Library
• Iowa DOT District 4 Office
• NDOR District 2 Office

Due to the magnitude of the improvements identified during Tier 1, the interstate system was divided into segments for further study in Tier 2. Tier 2 is focused on detailed engineering and environmental studies for each segment.

In the summer of 2005 and 2006 the project team conducted a variety of environmental studies along Segments 1, 2 and 3 to identify potential constraints within the study area. Constraints that were reviewed include wetlands, waterways, animal habitat, parks and recreation areas, historic sites, regulated materials sites, and other constraints. Now the project team is working to document the potential impacts of the project on those constraints. Currently, environmental documents are being prepared for three segments:

• Segment 1 – Environmental Assessment – A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) was signed by FHWA on June 14, 2007.  The document has been issued to appropriate resource agencies and is available for public review at the Council Bluffs Library, Omaha Public Library, Iowa DOT District 4 Office and NDOR District 2 Office;
• Segment 2 – Categorical Exclusion – anticipated completion late 2007/early 2008; and
• Segment 3 – Environmental Assessment – anticipated completion late 2007/early 2008.

The level of environmental documentation varies from segment to segment based on the level of impacts anticipated from the project.  A project documented by a categorical exclusion is expected to have minimal impacts and the level of documentation reflects the minimal amount and extent of impact.  A project documented by an environmental assessment is expected to have impacts that aren’t significant and the environmental assessment is more detailed than a categorical exclusion.  Projects documented by environmental impact statements are typically large, complex projects that have the potential to cause significant impacts.  If during the development of the documentation the degree or extent of impacts are greater than anticipated, the level of documentation can change to provide a higher level of review.