Final Environmental Assessment and FONSI for the Coral Reef Conservation Grant Program
6. Finding of No Significant Impact
NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 216-6 (revised May 20, 1999) provides eleven criteria for determining the significance of the impacts of a proposed action. These criteria are discussed below with respect to the proposed action (Alternative 2).
6.1 Impacts may be both beneficial and adverse-a significant effect may exist even if the Federal agency believes that on balance the effect will be beneficial.
After three years of implementing the CRCGP, no significant adverse environmental impacts have been identified and elevated for further NEPA review. Beneficial effects or impacts of program implementation may, however, be considered as significant with respect to accomplishments associated with the grants that have been awarded and those to be awarded in the future. Each grant action can be identified as chipping away at the problems overwhelming many coral reef environments, especially those associated with human related impacts. Support for meetings, education and outreach, better management plans and better information on which to base the management plans, increased law enforcement provide beneficial impacts not easily quantified, but are necessary for the foreseeable future.
6.2 What is the proposed degree to which public health or safety is affected by the proposed action?
No negative impacts to public health and safety are associated with CRCGP implementation. Public health and safety in some instances will be positively affected. For example, when recommendations for improved water quality conditions in the watersheds emptying into coral reef ecosystem receiving waters are implemented, this could lead to better health and safety conditions. It is beyond the means of this program to provide the mechanisms (i.e., waste treatment plants) for improving water quality, but the actions in accordance with plans developed could provide initial steps towards cleanup.
6.3 Are there unique characteristics of the geographic area in which the proposed action is to take place?
Implementation of the CRCGP involves as many 30-50 separate proposals for funding a year in many areas of the world. The coral reef environments may be considered both unique and fragile and are the subject of the CRCGP. Many actions may occur in these geographic areas that cover large areas of the shorelines and oceans. The purpose of the grants, however, is for their short- to long-term protection and not for exploitation purposes. Not all actions under the CRCGP will occur in or near the reefs.
6.4 What is the degree to which effects on the human environment are likely to be highly controversial?
Some management measures recommended to protect reefs and coral fishes could be locally controversial if they recommend or result in requiring modifications to current behavior such as limitations on catch or taking of coral species as a management technique to increase biodiversity or abundance. This is typical response where trade-offs are required, however, any actual changes that may be recommended or occur will be done in accordance with existing laws and through legitimate federal, state, territorial and local governments as necessary. No such issues have been raised since CRCGP implementation, but the potential for controversy surrounding management techniques will always exist and must be reviewed on a project proposal basis.
6.5 What is the degree to which effects are highly uncertain or involve unique or unknown risks?
There are no uncertain, unique, or unknown risks associated with the implementation of the CRCGP. While there is much to be learned about coral reef ecosystems, the CRCGP does not envision the use of experimental techniques where impacts and consequences would be unknown to the research or management community.
6.6 What is the degree to which the action establishes a precedent for future actions with significant effects or represents a decision in principle about a future consideration?
The CRCGP is funded through annual appropriations by the Congress and therefore each year may set precedents for future spending and support of actions. The administrators of the CRCGP however make determinations on what types of projects should be funded and have the opportunity to review past actions prior to taking future actions. There is little probability that any actions will result in significant negative impacts to coral reef resources. There is a likelihood that certain management techniques to limit human related impacts to coral reefs will lead to more targeted regulation.
6.7 Does the proposed action have individually insignificant but cumulatively significant impacts?
Implementation of the CRCGP is designed to have no significant adverse environmental impacts but should result in largely positive environmental impacts through the awarded grants. From a programmatic standpoint, implementation of the CRCGP over the years should result in positive cumulative impacts to coral reef environments through better management of anthropogenic uses and abuses. For example, the installation of mooring buoys so boats can tie onto a buoy rather than throw an anchor on the reef to hold the boat in place will afford greater protection to coral by preventing breakage.
6.8 What is the degree to which the action adversely affects entities listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, or may cause loss or destruction of significant scientific, cultural, or historic resources?
The proposed action will not adversely affect any entity listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Nor will the proposed action cause the loss of or destroy any significant scientific, cultural, or historic resources. Should a proposed action be designed to increase public action or public education/outreach efforts in facilities or locations that are on the Registry, consultation with appropriate State Historic Preservation Officers will be conducted to ensure no adverse impacts occur to such facilities or if they are to be restored, that the facility meets historic preservation requirements.
6.9 What is the degree to which endangered or threatened species, or their critical habitat as defined under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, is adversely affected?
Most coral reef environments are themselves considered as critical habitat to the species found in the ecosystem. The impacts of the management program to these environments will be positive and very beneficial. Research, monitoring, and restoration types of activities may occur in areas where marine turtles, and certain marine mammals like the Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi) are found and considered as part of the ecosystem. Any research conducted under the CRCGP must comply with all rules and regulations that protect marine mammals and endangered or threatened species.
6.10 Is a violation of Federal, state, or local law for environmental protection threatened?
No violation of Federal, state, or local law for environmental protection is anticipated. Three years of funding grants under the CRCGP have resulted in no violation of environmental laws and regulations. In some cases, the funded projects may lead to improvements to such laws (e.g., revisions to rules and regulations in specific MPAs or Coral Reserves) as it is the intention of the program to provide sound scientific information in support of better management of coral reef resources.
6.11 Will the proposed action result in the introduction or spread of a non-indigenous species?
The proposed action will not result in the introduction or spread of non-indigenous species. Certain grants funded under the CRCGP will result in gaining knowledge of the impacts of non-indigenous species in coral reef environments and lead to efforts to reduce or stop the spread of such species in certain geographic areas such as reefs and bays.
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