V.J. Yannacone, jr., ed., “The Cross–Florida Barge Canal Counter 102 Statement,” Chapter 4 in Environmental Systems Science, (Chicago: American Bar Association) 383–508 (1975)

The Cross Florida Barge Canal Counter-102 Statement

Yannacone filed the complaint against the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the Cross-Florida Barge Canal litigation on September 15, 1969. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) became law in January, 1970. A key provision of NEPA required every federal agency to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement before undertaking any project which might have a significant impact upon the environment. There were no regulations yet in place, nor even any academic commentary or scientific publications indicating what information should be included in an Environmental Impact Statement. §102 of NEPA mandated the EIS, but provided no further information about the process of preparing one or even an outline of the form it should take. In August, 1969, Yannacone and a group of scientists created a model for an environmental impact statement and it was filed together with the complaint at the start of the agent orange litigation. It became the general model for environmental impact statements since that time.

At the American Bar Association National Institute on Environmental Litigation Organized and Presented by Yannacone in 1974, there was extensive discussion about environmental impact statements which had become the basis for much environmental litigation during the early 1970s. In the excerpt below from the second volume of the published proceedings of that National Institute, the following chapter details much about the elements of this first environmental impact statement.