Opinion ID: 186599
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Size of the Project and Report

Text: 31 In contending that an EIS is in order, TOMAC first argues that the sheer magnitude of the proposed gaming resort, as well as the length and complexity of the resulting EA, indicates that an EIS is necessary. In terms of the project's size, TOMAC avers that the anticipated arrival of 4.5 million visitors a year to a rural community of less than 5,000 residents suggests that BIA should produce an EIS. Similarly, TOMAC claims that because BIA spent four-and-a-half years and generated almost 900 pages of data and analysis examining the potential environmental impacts of the proposed gaming resort, it is clear that an EIS is needed. These claims miss their mark. 32 TOMAC offers no support for the proposition that an EIS is required when a project reaches a certain size. The relevant benchmark is whether the federal action significantly affect[s] the quality of the human environment. 42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C). Large federal projects may, on the average, be more likely to meet this threshold. But there is no categorical rule that sizable federal undertakings always have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. 33 Similarly, the significant time and effort BIA has spent preparing its EA does not alone prove that an EIS is obligatory. TOMAC relies on the CEQ guidelines, which advise that an EA should be no more than 10-15 pages in length. Br. of Plaintiff-Appellant at 26 (citing Forty Most Asked Questions Concerning CEQ's National Environmental Policy Act Regulations, 46 Fed.Reg. 18,026 (Mar. 23, 1981)). This guideline is not a binding regulation, however. See Davis v. Mineta, 302 F.3d 1104, 1125 n. 17 (10th Cir.2002). The simple point here is that the length of an EA has no bearing on the necessity of an EIS. See Sierra Club v. Marsh, 769 F.2d 868, 875 (1st Cir.1985) (EA length, complexity, and controversy . . . . do not by themselves show that the EAs' conclusion — `no significant impact' — is correct, nor do they show it is incorrect.). What ultimately determines whether an EIS rather than an EA is required is the scope of the project itself, not the length of the agency's report. Heartwood, Inc. v. U.S. Forest Serv., 380 F.3d 428, 434 (8th Cir.2004). The opposite regime would create perverse incentives for agencies, as it would only serve to encourage agencies to produce bare-bones EA's. Id.