110 Environmental Impact Analysis
4.2.2 Environmental Setting
Substantial environmental impacts, and thus the need for environmental
analysis, can occur in certain sensitive settings regardless of the type or
magnitude of the proposed action. These are typically related to ecologi-
cal resources and have been categorized as valued ecosystem components
(VECs) by several authors (Noble 2006 and Morgan 2001). Publicly or pri-
vately (e.g., Nature Conservancy Trustees, wildlife refuges, and land banks)
held conservation lands or habitats for special status species are strong can-
didates as VECs, and thus proximity to such resources can necessitate envi-
ronmental analysis.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and some other ...