CHAPTER I— STANDARDS 



Section I— Introduction 



1.1.1 Purpose and Scope. 



(a) These Guidelines establish standards and 

 procedures for use by Federal agencies in formulat- 

 ing and evaluating alternative plans for water and 

 related land resources implementation studies. 

 These Guidelines implement the Principles for 

 Water and Related Land Resources Implementation 

 Studies. 



(b) These Guidelines are for Federal administra- 

 tive purposes and shall not create any substantive 

 or procedural rights in private parties. 



(c) Departures in an individual study from these 

 Guidelines are to be documented and justified in 

 the study report. 



(d) Implementation studies are pre- or postauth- 

 orization project formulation or evaluation studies 

 undertaken by a Federal agency. Studies for the 

 following agency activities are covered: 



(1) Corps of Engineers (Civil Works) water re- 

 sources project plans. 



(2) Bureau of Reclamation water resources pro- 

 ject plans. 



(3) Tennessee Valley Authority water resources 

 project plans. 



(4) Soil Conservation Service water resources 

 project plans. 



(e) These Guidelines establish the basic process 

 for Federal agencies in carrying out implementation 

 studies. Activities conducted pursuant to the re- 

 quirements of the National Environmental Policy 

 Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321, et. seq.) are 

 to be fully integrated with this process. 



(f) The accounts described in these Guidelines 

 encompass and are consistent with the concept of 

 human environment as used in NEPA and the ap- 

 propriate portions of the NEPA regulations estab- 

 lished by the Council on Environmental Quality 

 (CEQ) in 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508. 



1.1.2 Authority. 



These Guidelines are established pursuant to 

 Section 103 of the Water Resources Planning Act 

 (Pub. L. 89-80) and Executive Order 1 1747. 



1.1.3 Applicability. 



(a) These Guidelines apply to implementation 

 studies completed more than 120 days after issu- 

 ance of the Guidelines. Studies completed within 

 120 days should be concluded in accordance with 

 the guidance applicable to them prior to issuance 

 of these Guidelines. 



(b) Preauthorization or postauthorization studies 

 are considered completed when the appropriate 

 planning documents have been approved by the re- 

 sponsible agency's field office. 



(c) In the case of reevaluation studies in which 

 there is no reformulation of the plan, the portions of 

 this chapter dealing with plan formulation do not 

 apply. 



(d) The administrator of each Federal or Federal- 

 ly assisted program covered is responsible for ap- 

 plying these Guidelines. 



Section II— The Federal Objective 



(a) The Federal objective of water and related 

 land resources planning is to contribute to national 

 economic development consistent with protecting 

 the Nation's environment, pursuant to national envi- 

 ronmental statutes, applicable executive orders, 

 and other Federal planning requirements. 



(b) Contributions to national economic develop- 

 ment (NED) are increases in the net value of the 

 national output of goods and services, expressed in 

 monetary units. Contributions to NED are the direct 

 net benefits that accrue in the planning area and 

 the rest of the nation. Contributions to NED include 

 increases in the net value of those goods and serv- 

 ices that are marketed, and also of those that may 

 not be marketed. 



(c) The Federal objective for the relevant plan- 

 ning setting should be stated in terms of an ex- 

 pressed desire to alleviate problems and realize op- 

 portunities related to the output of goods and serv- 

 ices or to increased economic efficiency. 



(d) Each statement of a problem or opportunity 

 should be expressed in terms of a desired output. 

 Example statements are— 



(1) Reduce flood losses in the Red River flood- 

 plain to increase agriculture production; 



(2) Reduce the cost of agricultural production in 

 the irrigated sector of Tolland County; and 



