(2) Executive Order, 11988, Floodplain Management. May 24, 

 1977 (42 FR 26951; May 25, 1977). 



(3) Executive Order, 11990, Protection of Wetlands. May 24, 

 1977 (42 FR 26961; May 25, 1977). 



(4) Executive Order, 11514, Protection and Enhancement of 

 Environmental Quality, Marcfi 5, 1970, as amended by Ex- 

 ecutive Order, 11991, May 24, 1977. 



(5) Executive Order, 12088, Federal Compliance with Pollution 

 Control Standards, October 13, 1978. 



(c) Other Federal policies. 



(1) Council on Environmental Quality Memorandum of August 

 11, 1980: Analysis of Impacts on Prime or Unique Agricultur- 

 al Lands In Implementing the National Environmental Policy 

 Act. 



(2) Council on Environmental Quality Memorandum of August 

 10, 1980: Interagency Consultation to Avoid or Mitigate Ad- 

 verse Effects on Rivers in the Nationwide Inventory. 



(3) Migratory Bird Treaties and other international agreements 

 listed in the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. 

 Section 2(a)(4). 



(2) Significance based on public recognition 

 means that some segment of the general public 

 recognizes the importance of an EQ resource or at- 

 tribute. Public recognition may take the form of con- 

 troversy, support, conflict, or opposition and may be 

 expressed formally (as in official letters) or informal- 

 ly. Environmentally related customs and traditions 

 should also be considered. EQ resources or attri- 

 butes recognized by the public will often change 

 over time as public awareness and perceptions 

 change. 



(3) Significance based on technical recognition 

 means that the importance of an EQ resource or 

 attribute is based on scientific or technical knowl- 

 edge or judgment of critical resource characteris- 

 tics. Examples are a graveyard recognized by an 

 archeologist as being the focal point of a 19th cen- 

 tury community; a rock outcropping identified by a 

 landscape architect as being an important scenic 

 element based on aesthetic rating criteria; and a 

 meadow identified by a wildlife biologist as the 

 major breeding ground for a deer herd. 



(4) The significance of many EQ resources and 

 attributes may be recognized on more than one 

 basis. For example, a specific bird species may be 

 institutionally recognized (protected by Federal and 

 State law), publicy recognized (of interest to a com- 

 munity), and technically recognized (due to its 

 uniqueness in the environment). 



(d) At this early point in the process, a determina- 

 tion of whether or not an EQ resource or attribute 

 would be likely to be affected is to be based on 

 some preliminary judgments about causes (in terms 

 of alternative plans) and effects (in terms of EQ re- 

 sources and attributes). Such preliminary judgments 

 are to be based on the following considerations: 



(1) Likely to be affected means that an effect on 

 an EQ resource or attribute is reasonably possible. 



(2) The cause of an effect may be one or more 

 alternative plans or individual measures. 



(3) The relationship of the cause to the effect 

 may be direct, indirect, or cumulative. 



(e) Information included in the planning process 

 Step 2 (inventory and forecast) should be adequate 

 for the purposes of this activity. A fully definitive 

 body of evidence is not required to conclude that 

 an EQ resource or attribute is significant and likely 

 to be affected. For example. It would not be neces- 

 sary to develop all of the information needed to 

 reach a determination of eligibility for Inclusion on 

 the National Register of Historic Places to conclude 

 that a specific archeological site has a cultural attri- 

 bute. 



(f) Future conditions may change the types of EQ 

 resources or attributes or create new ones that 

 may be significant and likely to be affected; these 

 should be considered in this activity. For example, 

 a currently eutrophic lake that is forecast to devel- 

 op Into a wetland ecosystem in the without-plans 

 condition should be considered in this activity. 

 Forecasts developed In later evaluation activities 

 (see 3.4.7 and 3.4.8) will provide the bases for 

 identifying such EQ resources and attributes. 



(g) Agencies should invite the public to partici- 

 pate in the Identification of EQ resources and attri- 

 butes that are significant and likely to be affected. 

 Agencies are encouraged to integrate the public's 

 participation in this activity into the means used to 

 meet the scoping requirements of the P&G and the 

 CEQ NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) to avoid 

 duplication of public involvement efforts. 



(h) Appendix A provides an example documenta- 

 tion format for recording the results of this activity. 



3.4.4 Develop evaluation framework activity. 



(a) This activity is performed to specify the ways 

 in which changes in EQ resources and attributes, 

 as identified in the previous activity, will be meas- 

 ured or othenwise described. For each EQ attribute, 

 planners should specify one or more indicators of 

 quantity and/or quality. Indicators are used to 

 measure or othenwise describe existing and future 

 conditions and the effects of alternative plans. For 

 each indicator, planners should specify a unit (nu- 

 meric or non-numeric term in which the Indicator is 

 measured or otherwise described); a guideline (in- 

 stitutional, public, or technical basis for determining 

 whether an effect on an Indicator is beneficial or 

 adverse); and a technique (procedure for measuring 

 or otherwise describing the Indicator in terms of its 

 unit). Figure 3.4.4 graphically Illustrates the evalua- 

 tion framework. 



112 



