1625-0015 Stat/Authority

§ 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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Council on Environmental Quality

§ 1504.1

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(c) A cooperating agency shall specify in its comments whether it needs additional information to fulfill other applicable environmental reviews or consultation requirements and what information it needs. In particular, it shall
specify any additional information it
needs to comment adequately on the
draft statement’s analysis of significant site-specific effects associated
with the granting or approving by that
cooperating agency of necessary Federal permits, licenses, or entitlements.
(d) When a cooperating agency with
jurisdiction by law objects to or expresses reservations about the proposal
on grounds of environmental impacts,
the agency expressing the objection or
reservation shall specify the mitigation measures it considers necessary to
allow the agency to grant or approve
applicable permit, license, or related
requirements or concurrences.
§ 1503.4 Response to comments.
(a) An agency preparing a final environmental impact statement shall assess and consider comments both individually and collectively, and shall respond by one or more of the means listed below, stating its response in the
final statement. Possible responses are
to:
(1) Modify alternatives including the
proposed action.
(2) Develop and evaluate alternatives
not previously given serious consideration by the agency.
(3) Supplement, improve, or modify
its analyses.
(4) Make factual corrections.
(5) Explain why the comments do not
warrant further agency response, citing the sources, authorities, or reasons
which support the agency’s position
and, if appropriate, indicate those circumstances which would trigger agency reappraisal or further response.
(b) All substantive comments received on the draft statement (or summaries thereof where the response has
been exceptionally voluminous), should
be attached to the final statement
whether or not the comment is thought
to merit individual discussion by the
agency in the text of the statement.
(c) If changes in response to comments are minor and are confined to
the responses described in paragraphs

(a)(4) and (5) of this section, agencies
may write them on errata sheets and
attach them to the statement instead
of rewriting the draft statement. In
such cases only the comments, the responses, and the changes and not the
final statement need be circulated
(§ 1502.19). The entire document with a
new cover sheet shall be filed as the
final statement (§ 1506.9).

PART 1504—PREDECISION REFERRALS TO THE COUNCIL OF PROPOSED FEDERAL ACTIONS DETERMINED TO BE ENVIRONMENTALLY
UNSATISFACTORY
Sec.
1504.1
1504.2
1504.3

Purpose.
Criteria for referral.
Procedure for referrals and response.

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).

§ 1504.1

Purpose.

(a) This part establishes procedures
for referring to the Council Federal
interagency disagreements concerning
proposed major Federal actions that
might cause unsatisfactory environmental effects. It provides means for
early resolution of such disagreements.
(b) Under section 309 of the Clean Air
Act (42 U.S.C. 7609), the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency is directed to review and comment
publicly on the environmental impacts
of Federal activities, including actions
for which environmental impact statements are prepared. If after this review
the Administrator determines that the
matter is ‘‘unsatisfactory from the
standpoint of public health or welfare
or environmental quality,’’ section 309
directs that the matter be referred to
the Council (hereafter ‘‘environmental
referrals’’).
(c) Under section 102(2)(C) of the Act
other Federal agencies may make similar reviews of environmental impact
statements, including judgments on
the acceptability of anticipated environmental impacts. These reviews

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