[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 33, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 33CFR279.7]

[Page 379]
 
                TITLE 33--NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
 
         CHAPTER II--CORPS OF ENGINEERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
 
PART 279--RESOURCE USE: ESTABLISHMENT OF OBJECTIVES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 279.7  Information collection and preliminary analysis.

    (a) Data search. This effort consists of collecting existing data 
and accomplishing the minimum additional studies necessary to obtain the 
information required to generate and analyze the likely options. State 
and local agency input should be sought during this phase. The initial 
work will be to determine separately the options for resource use and 
public needs. A preliminary analysis comparing the two parts and their 
relationship to authorized project purposes and administrative 
constraints should be conducted prior to further public and agency 
input.
    (b) Project resources. The natural and man-made resources of the 
project area are to be identified and the inter-relationships analyzed 
to generate the options that are most viable to the overall region. The 
environmental information and analysis, among other things, should 
define and describe the physical limitations of the project, aquatic and 
terrestrial vegetation, game and non-game wildlife species and 
distribution, fisheries, terrain, soils, minerals, climate, capacity and 
sensitivity of these resources to public use, archaeological and 
historical resources, management techniques, and ecosystem interactions.
    (c) Social needs and benefits. The problems, opportunities, and 
desires of the people of the region to be served by the project must be 
identified in order to determine options that are in the best overall 
public interest. The basic approach for determining public needs and 
benefits is through a market analysis and a public involvement program. 
In considering options, the analysis as a minimum should include the 
indentification of the various publics served, views of other agencies 
and organizations, existing and planned recreational facilities in the 
market area of the consumer, the population base and distribution, 
institutional analysis of potential cost-sharing partners, constraints, 
the transportation network, the needs identified by local, State and 
Federal agencies, and the State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan 
(SCORP).