Environmental Impact Statement For The Geothermal Leasing Program In Compliance With Section 1022c Of The National Environmental Policy Act Of 1969 PDF Download

On November 28, 1979 the Department of Energy (DOE) released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the proposed rule for the Standards (DOE/EIS-0061-D), which stated that a Supplement to the DEIS would be published to address the impacts of the implementation program since implementation had been presented only as a set of issues. Research has been completed to assess implementation alternatives and their impacts. This research is presented in this Supplemental Information. It focuses on the major findings, areas of known or probable controversy, and issues to be resolved. This Supplemental Information is issued pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act(NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the implementing regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) to the fullest extent practicable. Buildings accounted for one-third of the total energy used in the United States in 1976 (DOE/BCS 1978). Similar findings were reached in an independent analysis by the Harvard Business School using Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, which found that between "36%and 40% of U.S. energy consumption is used to heat, air condition,light and provide hot water for homes, commercial structures, and factories. The residential structure alone uses 20% of all energy usedin the United States" (Stobaugh and Yergin 1979). Almost 40% of the energy used in buildings was wasted (DOE/BCS 1978). "In the very near future, substantial savings (of energy) can be made by relatively simple changes in the way we manage energy use...the most substantial conservation opportunities...will be fully achievable only over thecourse of two or more decades as the existing capital stock and consumer durables are replaced. There are economically attractive opportunities for such improvements in appliances, automobiles, buildings and industrial processes at today's prices for energy, and as prices rise, these opportunities will multiply" (NAS 1980).