ExamplesofEffectiveTechniquesforImprovingtheQualityofEnvironmentalDocuments

Chapter7.Figures

Figureshelptoenhancereadabilitybyenablingareadertovisualizeconditionsthataredescribedinthetext.Butafigurecandetractfromreadabilityifthefigureitselfisnotclear,orifthereaderfindsitdifficulttocorrelatethedescriptioninthetexttothefeaturesshownonthefigure.ThefollowinggoodpracticescanhelptomaximizetheeffectivenessoffiguresinNEPAdocuments:

Labelkeyelementsthatarediscussedinthetext.Inmostcases,figuresareintendedtobereadincombinationwithaccompanyingtext.Forthefiguretobeeffective,featuresdiscussedinthetextshouldbelabeledonthefigure.Forexample,ifthetextreferstoaseriesofintersectionsornoise‐sensitivereceptors,thereaderexpectsthosefeaturestobelabeledontheaccompanyingfigure.Readersarelikelytobecomefrustratedifthefiguresdonotidentifyfeaturesdiscussedinthetext.

Makeimportantelementsstandoutagainstthebackground.Thebackgroundofafigure‐e.g.,thebasemap‐shouldprovideenoughinformationtoorientthereader,butnotsomuchthatitdistractsfromtheprimaryfocusofthefigure.Inaddition,itishelpfultouselightcolorsforthebackgroundmapandboldcolorsforthemajorelements.

Ensurethatthelegendisclearandcomplete.Includingaclearandcompletelegendshouldbeastandardpractice.Toensurethatthisisdone,thereviewprocessforaNEPAdocumentshouldincludespecialattentiontolegends.Inaddition,ifcolorsareusedfordifferentfeatures,thereviewprocessshouldensurethatcolorsareclearlydistinguishablefromoneanotheronboththefigureandthelegend.

Inadditiontothesepractices,itispossibletousegraphicdesignerswiththeexpertisetodevelopfiguresthatdisplaycomplexinformationincompellingandcreativeways.Buteffectiveuseoffiguresdoesnotrequireunusualsteps.Thekeyistotakethebasicstepsthatenablethereadertounderstandwhatisshownonthefigureandtomaketheconnectionbetweenthefiguresandtext.

Examples of Effective Techniques for Improving the Quality of Environmental Documents

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Important Features Clearly Labeled(i.e., the figure labels features that are mentioned in the accompanying text and tables)

NC: Mid-Currituck FEIS

OR: OR 62 FEIS

WA: Mukilteo FEIS

N

Scale in Miles

0 1 2

VIRGINIA

NORTH CAROLINA

CURRITUCK CLUBHOUSE DRIVE

AlbemarleSound

CurrituckSound

Jarvisburg

Olds

Powells Pt.

DARE

CU

RRITU

CK

Hog Quarter Landing

Mamie

Spot

SouthernShores

Kitty Hawk

Harbinger

Point Harbor

Duck

12

158

12

Atlantic Ocean

Maple

Swamp

Coinjock

Aydlett

Corolla

Poplar Branch

WaterlilyBarco

Church's Island

Grandy

SR 1140

Aydlett Road

SR 1132

SR 11

42W

aterlil

y Ro

ad

SR 1137

136

136

Olds

158 CurrituckSound

North River

12

12

12

Coinjock Bay

158

158

168

12

158

158

ALBACORE STREETIntra

coasta

l Wat

erway

Jarvisburg ColoredSchool (DOE)

C.W. Wright Store(DOE)

(Former) GrandySchool (DOE)

Ellie and Blanton SaundersDecoy Workshop (DOE)

Christian AdvocateBaptist Church (DOE)

Dr. W.T. GriggsHouse (DOE)

Samuel McHorneyHouse (DOE)

Daniel SaundersHouse (DOE)Coinjock Colored

School (DOE)

Currituck Sound RuralHistoric District (DOE)

Corolla HistoricDistrict (DOE)Currituck Beach

Light Station (NR)

Whalehead Club(NR)

C2

C1

Dexter W. SnowHouse (DOE)

FigureHistoricProperties 3-4

LEGENDDEIS Bridge Corridors

Preferred Alternative Bridge Corridor

County Boundaries

Area of Potential Effect (APE)Resource listed (NR) on or eligible (DOE) for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places

PA

Techniques to note:- important features are clearly labeled,allowing reader to identify featuresdiscussed in the accompanying text

CHAPTER 3: Affected Environment, Environmental Consequences, and Avoidance, Minimization, and/or Mitigation Measures 3 - 408

Figure 3.17-2

#I #I#I"J

#I

#I#I#I

#I

"J#I

#I

#I

#I

#I

#I

#I#I"J

Medford International

Airport

¬Ê62

¬Ê140

§̈¦5

White City

MedfordNSA 01

NSA 02

NSA 03

NSA 04

NSA 05

NSA 06

NSA 07

NSA 08

NSA 09

NSA 10NSA 11

NSA 12

NSA 13

NSA 14

NSA 15

NSA 16

NSA 17

NSA 18

NSA 19

Fig 3.17-3 & 4

Fig 3.17-5 to 3.17-10

N

NoiseSensitive Areas

andNoise Measurement

LocationsOverview

September 2012

Source: Jackson County GIS,ODOT, URS Corp.

Map Features

0 0.5 1Miles

"J Long Term Locations#I Short Term Locations

Noise Measurement

Project Footprints

Design Option C

Design Option A

Fig 3.17-11 to 3.17-16

SD Alternative

DI Alternative

Design Option B

Noise Sensitive Area

Techniques to note:- important features are clearly labeled,allowing reader to identify featuresdiscussed in the accompanying text

Mukilteo Multimodal Project | Final Environmental Impact Statement

Final EIS Chapter 3 | Transportation 3-7June 2013

Figure 3-3. Study Area Intersections

Techniques to note:- important features are clearly labeled; insetphotos help readers to visualize theintersections shown.

www.environment.transportation.org

Major Elements Stand Out Clearly Against Background

NC: Mid-Currituck Bridge FEIS

AlbemarleSound

CurrituckSound

Jarvisburg

Olds

Powells Pt.

DARE

CU

RRITU

CK

Hog Quarter Landing

Mamie

Spot

SouthernShores

Kitty Hawk

Harbinger

Point Harbor

Duck

12

158

12

N

Atlantic Ocean

Maple

Swamp

Coinjock

Aydlett

Corolla

Poplar Branch

WaterlilyBarco

Church's Island

Grandy

SR 1140

Aydlett Road

SR 1132

SR 1137

136

136

Olds

158 CurrituckSound

North River

12

12

12

Coinjock Bay

158

158

168

Scale in Miles

0 1 2

12

158

ALBACORE STREET

VIRGINIA

NORTH CAROLINA

Intra

coasta

l Wat

erway

158

CURRITUCK CLUBHOUSE DRIVECURRITUCK CLUBHOUSE DRIVE

DUCK WOODS DRIVE

CYPRESSKNEE TRAIL

CYPRESSKNEE TRAIL

Median AccelerationLane at US 158/Waterlily Road

Intersection

Toll Plaza

SR 11

42

Wate

rlily

Road

SR 11

42

Wate

rlily

Road

Figure

Preferred Alternative 2-2

LEGEND

New Roadway

County Boundaries

Third Outbound Lane for HurricaneEvacuation (Cypress Knee Trail to450 feet west of Duck Woods Drive)Four Lanes

Reversal of Center Turn Lanefor Hurricane Evacuation

New Bridge

Preferred Alternative Bridge Corridor Alignment

InterchangeRoundabout

Techniques to note:- simple, clean background, so that keyfeatures stand out clearly- bold, easily identified colors are usedto depict important elements- important features are labeled

www.environment.transportation.org

Legend Is Clear and Complete(and includes north arrow)

OR: OR 62 FEIS

WA: I-90 FEIS

CHAPTER 3: Affected Environment, Environmental Consequences, and Avoidance, Minimization, and/or Mitigation Measures3 - 308

Figure 3.11-3

Little ButteCree

k

South Jack Creek

North Swanson Creek

South Swanson Creek

Up ton CreekBear C

ree k

Lone Pine Creek

Whetst one C reek

Whetstone Creek N

Project AreaWildlife Linkages

andWildlife/Vehicle

CollisionsSeptember 2012

¬Ê62

§̈¦5

Map Features

Stream

Area of Potential Impact

Wildlife Linkages

Northwestern Pond Turtle

Elk

Project Footprint

Source: Jackson County GIS,Oregon DFW, URS Corp.

Conservation Opportunity Areas (COA)

Antelope Creek COA

North Medford COA

0 0.5 1Miles

Wildlife/Vehicle CollisionFrequency

Highest

Med-High

Medium

Med-Low

Lowest

Note: No wildlife/vehicle collision frequency shown on OR 62 between approximately Delta Waters Rd and Coker Butte Rd

due to lack of data.

Techniques to note:- legend is clear and complete;each element shown on the figureis clearly labeled in the legend.

5.7 Noise

SR 520, I-5 TO MEDINA: BRIDGE REPLACEMENT AND HOV PROJECT | FINAL EIS AND FINAL SECTION 4(F) AND 6(F) EVALUATIONS 5.7-3

would approach or exceed the NAC, and provides a symbol indicating whether an average person would notice an increase, decrease, or no change in traffic noise. Changes in traffic noise are typically noticeable at 3 dBA. Noise levels at locations shown as having no noticeable change would remain within 2 dBA of current levels.

As shown in Table 5.7-2 and Exhibit 5.7-2, Options A, K, and L would also decrease the number of residences where noise levels exceed the NAC, although the decrease would be less than with the Preferred Alternative. Under Option A, the number of residences exceeding the NAC would decrease to 249. Under Options K and L, the number of residences exceeding the NAC would decrease to 256 and 235, respectively. The

Techniques to note:- legend is clear and complete; each element shownon the figure is clearly labeled in the legend.

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