The Environmental Protection Agency and the Kaiparowits Power Project: A Case Study of EPA's Performance of its Environmental Review Responsibilities,

摘要

The study focuses on the description of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) review of the Bureau of Land Management's impact statement for the Kaiparowits Power Project. The Kaiparowits project,involving new coal mining operations,the construction of a coal haul railway,transmission lines to the major load centers in Arizona and Southern California,and the world's largest coal-fired electric generating plant was considered to be the most important component of Phase II in the development of electric energy production of the Four Corners region. In the examination of EPA's role vis-a-vis the project,the origin of the agency's interest in Kaiparowits is traced to the Southwest Energy Study. The agency's guidelines for review of impact statements are summarized. The Office of Federal Activities (FA),the headquarters office responsible for coordinating and overseeing the review of environmental impact statements,is considered. A discussion of how EPA's Region VIII Office performed its review responsibilities is presented. The data upon which this study is based were gathered primarily from March to May, 1976in Washington, D. C. and Denver,Colorado.