1625-0015 Stat/Authority

Council on Environmental Quality

§ 1502.1

action, or if significant new circumstances or information arise which
bear on the proposal or its impacts.

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§ 1501.8

Time limits.

Although the Council has decided
that prescribed universal time limits
for the entire NEPA process are too inflexible, Federal agencies are encouraged to set time limits appropriate to
individual actions (consistent with the
time intervals required by § 1506.10).
When multiple agencies are involved
the reference to agency below means
lead agency.
(a) The agency shall set time limits
if an applicant for the proposed action
requests them: Provided, That the limits are consistent with the purposes of
NEPA and other essential considerations of national policy.
(b) The agency may:
(1) Consider the following factors in
determining time limits:
(i) Potential for environmental harm.
(ii) Size of the proposed action.
(iii) State of the art of analytic techniques.
(iv) Degree of public need for the proposed action, including the consequences of delay.
(v) Number of persons and agencies
affected.
(vi) Degree to which relevant information is known and if not known the
time required for obtaining it.
(vii) Degree to which the action is
controversial.
(viii) Other time limits imposed on
the agency by law, regulations, or executive order.
(2) Set overall time limits or limits
for each constituent part of the NEPA
process, which may include:
(i) Decision on whether to prepare an
environmental impact statement (if
not already decided).
(ii) Determination of the scope of the
environmental impact statement.
(iii) Preparation of the draft environmental impact statement.
(iv) Review of any comments on the
draft environmental impact statement
from the public and agencies.
(v) Preparation of the final environmental impact statement.
(vi) Review of any comments on the
final environmental impact statement.

(vii) Decision on the action based in
part on the environmental impact
statement.
(3) Designate a person (such as the
project manager or a person in the
agency’s office with NEPA responsibilities) to expedite the NEPA process.
(c) State or local agencies or members of the public may request a Federal Agency to set time limits.

PART 1502—ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT STATEMENT
Sec.
1502.1 Purpose.
1502.2 Implementation.
1502.3 Statutory requirements for statements.
1502.4 Major Federal actions requiring the
preparation of environmental impact
statements.
1502.5 Timing.
1502.6 Interdisciplinary preparation.
1502.7 Page limits.
1502.8 Writing.
1502.9 Draft, final, and supplemental statements.
1502.10 Recommended format.
1502.11 Cover sheet.
1502.12 Summary.
1502.13 Purpose and need.
1502.14 Alternatives including the proposed
action.
1502.15 Affected environment.
1502.16 Environmental consequences.
1502.17 List of preparers.
1502.18 Appendix.
1502.19 Circulation of the environmental impact statement.
1502.20 Tiering.
1502.21 Incorporation by reference.
1502.22 Incomplete or unavailable information.
1502.23 Cost-benefit analysis.
1502.24 Methodology and scientific accuracy.
1502.25 Environmental review and consultation requirements.
AUTHORITY: NEPA, the Environmental
Quality Improvement Act of 1970, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), sec. 309 of the Clean
Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7609), and E.O.
11514 (Mar. 5, 1970, as amended by E.O. 11991,
May 24, 1977).
SOURCE: 43 FR 55994, Nov. 29, 1978, unless
otherwise noted.

§ 1502.1 Purpose.
The primary purpose of an environmental impact statement is to serve as
an action-forcing device to insure that
the policies and goals defined in the

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§ 1502.2

40 CFR Ch. V (7–1–11 Edition)

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Act are infused into the ongoing programs and actions of the Federal Government. It shall provide full and fair
discussion of significant environmental
impacts and shall inform decisionmakers and the public of the reasonable alternatives which would avoid or
minimize adverse impacts or enhance
the quality of the human environment.
Agencies shall focus on significant environmental issues and alternatives
and shall reduce paperwork and the accumulation of extraneous background
data. Statements shall be concise,
clear, and to the point, and shall be
supported by evidence that the agency
has made the necessary environmental
analyses. An environmental impact
statement is more than a disclosure
document. It shall be used by Federal
officials in conjunction with other relevant material to plan actions and
make decisions.
§ 1502.2 Implementation.
To achieve the purposes set forth in
§ 1502.1 agencies shall prepare environmental impact statements in the following manner:
(a) Environmental impact statements
shall be analytic rather than encyclopedic.
(b) Impacts shall be discussed in proportion to their significance. There
shall be only brief discussion of other
than significant issues. As in a finding
of no significant impact, there should
be only enough discussion to show why
more study is not warranted.
(c) Environmental impact statements
shall be kept concise and shall be no
longer than absolutely necessary to
comply with NEPA and with these regulations. Length should vary first with
potential environmental problems and
then with project size.
(d) Environmental impact statements
shall state how alternatives considered
in it and decisions based on it will or
will not achieve the requirements of
sections 101 and 102(1) of the Act and
other environmental laws and policies.
(e) The range of alternatives discussed in environmental impact statements shall encompass those to be considered by the ultimate agency decisionmaker.
(f) Agencies shall not commit resources prejudicing selection of alter-

natives before making a final decision
(§ 1506.1).
(g) Environmental impact statements
shall serve as the means of assessing
the environmental impact of proposed
agency actions, rather than justifying
decisions already made.
§ 1502.3 Statutory
statements.

requirements

As required by sec. 102(2)(C) of NEPA
environmental
impact
statements
(§ 1508.11) are to be included in every
recommendation or report.
On proposals (§ 1508.23).
For legislation and (§ 1508.17).
Other
major
Federal
actions
(§ 1508.18).
Significantly (§ 1508.27).
Affecting (§§ 1508.3, 1508.8).
The quality of the human environment (§ 1508.14).
§ 1502.4 Major Federal actions requiring the preparation of environmental impact statements.
(a) Agencies shall make sure the proposal which is the subject of an environmental impact statement is properly defined. Agencies shall use the criteria for scope (§ 1508.25) to determine
which proposal(s) shall be the subject
of a particular statement. Proposals or
parts of proposals which are related to
each other closely enough to be, in effect, a single course of action shall be
evaluated in a single impact statement.
(b) Environmental impact statements
may be prepared, and are sometimes
required, for broad Federal actions
such as the adoption of new agency
programs or regulations (§ 1508.18).
Agencies shall prepare statements on
broad actions so that they are relevant
to policy and are timed to coincide
with meaningful points in agency planning and decisionmaking.
(c) When preparing statements on
broad actions (including proposals by
more than one agency), agencies may
find it useful to evaluate the proposal(s) in one of the following ways:
(1) Geographically, including actions
occurring in the same general location,
such as body of water, region, or metropolitan area.
(2) Generically, including actions
which have relevant similarities, such

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§ 1502.9

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as common timing, impacts, alternatives, methods of implementation,
media, or subject matter.
(3) By stage of technological development including federal or federally assisted research, development or demonstration programs for new technologies which, if applied, could significantly affect the quality of the
human environment. Statements shall
be prepared on such programs and shall
be available before the program has
reached a stage of investment or commitment to implementation likely to
determine subsequent development or
restrict later alternatives.
(d) Agencies shall as appropriate employ scoping (§ 1501.7), tiering (§ 1502.20),
and other methods listed in §§ 1500.4
and 1500.5 to relate broad and narrow
actions and to avoid duplication and
delay.
§ 1502.5 Timing.
An agency shall commence preparation of an environmental impact statement as close as possible to the time
the agency is developing or is presented with a proposal (§ 1508.23) so
that preparation can be completed in
time for the final statement to be included in any recommendation or report on the proposal. The statement
shall be prepared early enough so that
it can serve practically as an important contribution to the decisionmaking process and will not be used to
rationalize or justify decisions already
made (§§ 1500.2(c), 1501.2, and 1502.2). For
instance:
(a) For projects directly undertaken
by Federal agencies the environmental
impact statement shall be prepared at
the feasibility analysis (go-no go) stage
and may be supplemented at a later
stage if necessary.
(b) For applications to the agency appropriate environmental assessments
or statements shall be commenced no
later than immediately after the application is received. Federal agencies are
encouraged to begin preparation of
such assessments or statements earlier, preferably jointly with applicable
State or local agencies.
(c) For adjudication, the final environmental impact statement shall normally precede the final staff recommendation and that portion of the

public hearing related to the impact
study. In appropriate circumstances
the statement may follow preliminary
hearings designed to gather information for use in the statements.
(d) For informal rulemaking the
draft environmental impact statement
shall normally accompany the proposed rule.
§ 1502.6 Interdisciplinary preparation.
Environmental impact statements
shall be prepared using an inter-disciplinary approach which will insure
the integrated use of the natural and
social sciences and the environmental
design arts (section 102(2)(A) of the
Act). The disciplines of the preparers
shall be appropriate to the scope and
issues identified in the scoping process
(§ 1501.7).
§ 1502.7 Page limits.
The text of final environmental impact statements (e.g., paragraphs (d)
through (g) of § 1502.10) shall normally
be less than 150 pages and for proposals
of unusual scope or complexity shall
normally be less than 300 pages.
§ 1502.8 Writing.
Environmental impact statements
shall be written in plain language and
may use appropriate graphics so that
decisionmakers and the public can
readily understand them. Agencies
should employ writers of clear prose or
editors to write, review, or edit statements, which will be based upon the
analysis and supporting data from the
natural and social sciences and the environmental design arts.
§ 1502.9 Draft, final, and supplemental
statements.
Except for proposals for legislation
as provided in § 1506.8 environmental
impact statements shall be prepared in
two stages and may be supplemented.
(a) Draft environmental impact
statements shall be prepared in accordance with the scope decided upon in the
scoping process. The lead agency shall
work with the cooperating agencies
and shall obtain comments as required
in part 1503 of this chapter. The draft
statement must fulfill and satisfy to
the fullest extent possible the requirements established for final statements

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§ 1502.10

40 CFR Ch. V (7–1–11 Edition)

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in section 102(2)(C) of the Act. If a draft
statement is so inadequate as to preclude meaningful analysis, the agency
shall prepare and circulate a revised
draft of the appropriate portion. The
agency shall make every effort to disclose and discuss at appropriate points
in the draft statement all major points
of view on the environmental impacts
of the alternatives including the proposed action.
(b) Final environmental impact
statements shall respond to comments
as required in part 1503 of this chapter.
The agency shall discuss at appropriate
points in the final statement any responsible opposing view which was not
adequately discussed in the draft statement and shall indicate the agency’s
response to the issues raised.
(c) Agencies:
(1) Shall prepare supplements to either draft or final environmental impact statements if:
(i) The agency makes substantial
changes in the proposed action that are
relevant to environmental concerns; or
(ii) There are significant new circumstances or information relevant to
environmental concerns and bearing on
the proposed action or its impacts.
(2) May also prepare supplements
when the agency determines that the
purposes of the Act will be furthered by
doing so.
(3) Shall adopt procedures for introducing a supplement into its formal administrative record, if such a record
exists.
(4) Shall prepare, circulate, and file a
supplement to a statement in the same
fashion (exclusive of scoping) as a draft
and final statement unless alternative
procedures are approved by the Council.
§ 1502.10 Recommended format.
Agencies shall use a format for environmental impact statements which
will encourage good analysis and clear
presentation of the alternatives including the proposed action. The following
standard format for environmental impact statements should be followed unless the agency determines that there
is a compelling reason to do otherwise:
(a) Cover sheet.
(b) Summary.
(c) Table of contents.

(d) Purpose of and need for action.
(e) Alternatives including proposed
action
(sections
102(2)(C)(iii)
and
102(2)(E) of the Act).
(f) Affected environment.
(g) Environmental consequences (especially sections 102(2)(C)(i), (ii), (iv),
and (v) of the Act).
(h) List of preparers.
(i) List of Agencies, Organizations,
and persons to whom copies of the
statement are sent.
(j) Index.
(k) Appendices (if any).
If a different format is used, it shall include paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (h), (i),
and (j), of this section and shall include
the substance of paragraphs (d), (e), (f),
(g), and (k) of this section, as further
described in §§ 1502.11 through 1502.18, in
any appropriate format.
§ 1502.11 Cover sheet.
The cover sheet shall not exceed one
page. It shall include:
(a) A list of the responsible agencies
including the lead agency and any cooperating agencies.
(b) The title of the proposed action
that is the subject of the statement
(and if appropriate the titles of related
cooperating agency actions), together
with the State(s) and county(ies) (or
other jurisdiction if applicable) where
the action is located.
(c) The name, address, and telephone
number of the person at the agency
who can supply further information.
(d) A designation of the statement as
a draft, final, or draft or final supplement.
(e) A one paragraph abstract of the
statement.
(f) The date by which comments must
be received (computed in cooperation
with EPA under § 1506.10).
The information required by this section may be entered on Standard Form
424 (in items 4, 6, 7, 10, and 18).
§ 1502.12 Summary.
Each environmental impact statement shall contain a summary which
adequately and accurately summarizes
the statement. The summary shall
stress the major conclusions, areas of
controversy (including issues raised by
agencies and the public), and the issues
to be resolved (including the choice

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Council on Environmental Quality

§ 1502.16

among alternatives). The summary will
normally not exceed 15 pages.
§ 1502.13 Purpose and need.
The statement shall briefly specify
the underlying purpose and need to
which the agency is responding in proposing the alternatives including the
proposed action.

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§ 1502.14 Alternatives including the
proposed action.
This section is the heart of the environmental impact statement. Based on
the information and analysis presented
in the sections on the Affected Environment (§ 1502.15) and the Environmental Consequences (§ 1502.16), it
should present the environmental impacts of the proposal and the alternatives in comparative form, thus
sharply defining the issues and providing a clear basis for choice among
options by the decisionmaker and the
public. In this section agencies shall:
(a) Rigorously explore and objectively evaluate all reasonable alternatives, and for alternatives which
were eliminated from detailed study,
briefly discuss the reasons for their
having been eliminated.
(b) Devote substantial treatment to
each alternative considered in detail
including the proposed action so that
reviewers may evaluate their comparative merits.
(c) Include reasonable alternatives
not within the jurisdiction of the lead
agency.
(d) Include the alternative of no action.
(e) Identify the agency’s preferred alternative or alternatives, if one or
more exists, in the draft statement and
identify such alternative in the final
statement unless another law prohibits
the expression of such a preference.
(f) Include appropriate mitigation
measures not already included in the
proposed action or alternatives.
§ 1502.15 Affected environment.
The environmental impact statement
shall succinctly describe the environment of the area(s) to be affected or
created by the alternatives under consideration. The descriptions shall be no
longer than is necessary to understand
the effects of the alternatives. Data

and analyses in a statement shall be
commensurate with the importance of
the impact, with less important material summarized, consolidated, or simply referenced. Agencies shall avoid
useless bulk in statements and shall
concentrate effort and attention on important issues. Verbose descriptions of
the affected environment are themselves no measure of the adequacy of
an environmental impact statement.
§ 1502.16 Environmental consequences.
This section forms the scientific and
analytic basis for the comparisons
under § 1502.14. It shall consolidate the
discussions of those elements required
by sections 102(2)(C)(i), (ii), (iv), and (v)
of NEPA which are within the scope of
the statement and as much of section
102(2)(C)(iii) as is necessary to support
the comparisons. The discussion will
include the environmental impacts of
the alternatives including the proposed
action, any adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided should
the proposal be implemented, the relationship between short-term uses of
man’s environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term
productivity, and any irreversible or irretrievable commitments of resources
which would be involved in the proposal should it be implemented. This
section should not duplicate discussions in § 1502.14. It shall include discussions of:
(a) Direct effects and their significance (§ 1508.8).
(b) Indirect effects and their significance (§ 1508.8).
(c) Possible conflicts between the
proposed action and the objectives of
Federal, regional, State, and local (and
in the case of a reservation, Indian
tribe) land use plans, policies and controls for the area concerned. (See
§ 1506.2(d).)
(d) The environmental effects of alternatives including the proposed action. The comparisons under § 1502.14
will be based on this discussion.
(e) Energy requirements and conservation potential of various alternatives and mitigation measures.
(f) Natural or depletable resource requirements and conservation potential
of various alternatives and mitigation
measures.

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§ 1502.17

40 CFR Ch. V (7–1–11 Edition)

(g) Urban quality, historic and cultural resources, and the design of the
built environment, including the reuse
and conservation potential of various
alternatives and mitigation measures.
(h) Means to mitigate adverse environmental impacts (if not fully covered
under § 1502.14(f)).
[43 FR 55994, Nov. 29, 1978; 44 FR 873, Jan. 3,
1979]

§ 1502.17 List of preparers.
The environmental impact statement
shall list the names, together with
their qualifications (expertise, experience, professional disciplines), of the
persons who were primarily responsible
for preparing the environmental impact statement or significant background papers, including basic components of the statement (§§ 1502.6 and
1502.8). Where possible the persons who
are responsible for a particular analysis, including analyses in background
papers, shall be identified. Normally
the list will not exceed two pages.

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§ 1502.18 Appendix.
If an agency prepares an appendix to
an environmental impact statement
the appendix shall:
(a) Consist of material prepared in
connection with an environmental impact statement (as distinct from material which is not so prepared and which
is incorporated by reference (§ 1502.21)).
(b) Normally consist of material
which substantiates any analysis fundamental to the impact statement.
(c) Normally be analytic and relevant
to the decision to be made.
(d) Be circulated with the environmental impact statement or be readily
available on request.
§ 1502.19 Circulation of the environmental impact statement.
Agencies shall circulate the entire
draft and final environmental impact
statements except for certain appendices as provided in § 1502.18(d) and unchanged statements as provided in
§ 1503.4(c). However, if the statement is
unusually long, the agency may circulate the summary instead, except
that the entire statement shall be furnished to:
(a) Any Federal agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise

with respect to any environmental impact involved and any appropriate Federal, State or local agency authorized
to develop and enforce environmental
standards.
(b) The applicant, if any.
(c) Any person, organization, or agency requesting the entire environmental
impact statement.
(d) In the case of a final environmental impact statement any person,
organization, or agency which submitted substantive comments on the
draft.
If the agency circulates the summary
and thereafter receives a timely request for the entire statement and for
additional time to comment, the time
for that requestor only shall be extended by at least 15 days beyond the
minimum period.
§ 1502.20

Tiering.

Agencies are encouraged to tier their
environmental impact statements to
eliminate repetitive discussions of the
same issues and to focus on the actual
issues ripe for decision at each level of
environmental review (§ 1508.28). Whenever a broad environmental impact
statement has been prepared (such as a
program or policy statement) and a
subsequent statement or environmental assessment is then prepared on
an action included within the entire
program or policy (such as a site specific action) the subsequent statement
or environmental assessment need only
summarize the issues discussed in the
broader statement and incorporate discussions from the broader statement
by reference and shall concentrate on
the issues specific to the subsequent
action. The subsequent document shall
state where the earlier document is
available. Tiering may also be appropriate for different stages of actions.
(Section 1508.28).
§ 1502.21

Incorporation by reference.

Agencies shall incorporate material
into an environmental impact statement by reference when the effect will
be to cut down on bulk without impeding agency and public review of the action. The incorporated material shall
be cited in the statement and its content briefly described. No material

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Council on Environmental Quality

§ 1502.24

may be incorporated by reference unless it is reasonably available for inspection by potentially interested persons within the time allowed for comment. Material based on proprietary
data which is itself not available for review and comment shall not be incorporated by reference.

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§ 1502.22 Incomplete or unavailable information.
When an agency is evaluating reasonably foreseeable significant adverse effects on the human environment in an
environmental impact statement and
there is incomplete or unavailable information, the agency shall always
make clear that such information is
lacking.
(a) If the incomplete information relevant to reasonably foreseeable significant adverse impacts is essential to a
reasoned choice among alternatives
and the overall costs of obtaining it are
not exorbitant, the agency shall include the information in the environmental impact statement.
(b) If the information relevant to reasonably foreseeable significant adverse
impacts cannot be obtained because
the overall costs of obtaining it are exorbitant or the means to obtain it are
not known, the agency shall include
within the environmental impact
statement:
(1) A statement that such information is incomplete or unavailable; (2) a
statement of the relevance of the incomplete or unavailable information to
evaluating reasonably foreseeable significant adverse impacts on the human
environment; (3) a summary of existing
credible scientific evidence which is
relevant to evaluating the reasonably
foreseeable significant adverse impacts
on the human environment, and (4) the
agency’s evaluation of such impacts
based upon theoretical approaches or
research methods generally accepted in
the scientific community. For the purposes of this section, ‘‘reasonably foreseeable’’ includes impacts which have
catastrophic consequences, even if
their probability of occurrence is low,
provided that the analysis of the impacts is supported by credible scientific
evidence, is not based on pure conjecture, and is within the rule of reason.

(c) The amended regulation will be
applicable to all environmental impact
statements for which a Notice of Intent
(40 CFR 1508.22) is published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on or after May 27, 1986.
For environmental impact statements
in progress, agencies may choose to
comply with the requirements of either
the original or amended regulation.
[51 FR 15625, Apr. 25, 1986]

§ 1502.23

Cost-benefit analysis.

If a cost-benefit analysis relevant to
the choice among environmentally different alternatives is being considered
for the proposed action, it shall be incorporated by reference or appended to
the statement as an aid in evaluating
the environmental consequences. To
assess the adequacy of compliance with
section 102(2)(B) of the Act the statement shall, when a cost-benefit analysis is prepared, discuss the relationship between that analysis and any
analyses of unquantified environmental impacts, values, and amenities.
For purposes of complying with the
Act, the weighing of the merits and
drawbacks of the various alternatives
need not be displayed in a monetary
cost-benefit analysis and should not be
when there are important qualitative
considerations. In any event, an environmental impact statement should at
least indicate those considerations, including factors not related to environmental quality, which are likely to be
relevant and important to a decision.
§ 1502.24 Methodology
accuracy.

and

Agencies shall insure the professional
integrity, including scientific integrity, of the discussions and analyses in
environmental
impact
statements.
They shall identify any methodologies
used and shall make explicit reference
by footnote to the scientific and other
sources relied upon for conclusions in
the statement. An agency may place
discussion of methodology in an appendix.

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§ 1502.25

40 CFR Ch. V (7–1–11 Edition)

§ 1502.25 Environmental review
consultation requirements.

and

(a) To the fullest extent possible,
agencies shall prepare draft environmental impact statements concurrently with and integrated with environmental impact analyses and related
surveys and studies required by the
Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16
U.S.C. 661 et seq.), the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470
et seq.), the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and other
environmental review laws and executive orders.
(b) The draft environmental impact
statement shall list all Federal permits, licenses, and other entitlements
which must be obtained in implementing the proposal. If it is uncertain
whether a Federal permit, license, or
other entitlement is necessary, the
draft environmental impact statement
shall so indicate.

PART 1503—COMMENTING
Sec.
1503.1
1503.2
1503.3
1503.4

§ 1503.2
Inviting comments.
Duty to comment.
Specificity of comments.
Response to comments.

AUTHORITY: NEPA, the Environmental
Quality Improvement Act of 1970, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), sec. 309 of the Clean
Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7609), and E.O.
11514 (Mar. 5, 1970, as amended by E.O. 11991,
May 24, 1977).
SOURCE: 43 FR 55997, Nov. 29, 1978, unless
otherwise noted.

§ 1503.1

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(iii) Any agency which has requested
that it receive statements on actions of
the kind proposed.
Office of Management and Budget Circular A–95 (Revised), through its system of clearinghouses, provides a
means of securing the views of State
and local environmental agencies. The
clearinghouses may be used, by mutual
agreement of the lead agency and the
clearinghouse, for securing State and
local reviews of the draft environmental impact statements.
(3) Request comments from the applicant, if any.
(4) Request comments from the public, affirmatively soliciting comments
from those persons or organizations
who may be interested or affected.
(b) An agency may request comments
on a final environmental impact statement before the decision is finally
made. In any case other agencies or
persons may make comments before
the final decision unless a different
time is provided under § 1506.10.

Inviting comments.

(a) After preparing a draft environmental impact statement and before
preparing a final environmental impact
statement the agency shall:
(1) Obtain the comments of any Federal agency which has jurisdiction by
law or special expertise with respect to
any environmental impact involved or
which is authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards.
(2) Request the comments of:
(i) Appropriate State and local agencies which are authorized to develop
and enforce environmental standards;
(ii) Indian tribes, when the effects
may be on a reservation; and

Duty to comment.

Federal agencies with jurisdiction by
law or special expertise with respect to
any environmental impact involved
and agencies which are authorized to
develop and enforce environmental
standards shall comment on statements within their jurisdiction, expertise, or authority. Agencies shall comment within the time period specified
for comment in § 1506.10. A Federal
agency may reply that it has no comment. If a cooperating agency is satisfied that its views are adequately reflected in the environmental impact
statement, it should reply that it has
no comment.
§ 1503.3

Specificity of comments.

(a) Comments on an environmental
impact statement or on a proposed action shall be as specific as possible and
may address either the adequacy of the
statement or the merits of the alternatives discussed or both.
(b) When a commenting agency criticizes a lead agency’s predictive methodology,
the
commenting
agency
should describe the alternative methodology which it prefers and why.

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