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This Section was added to the Clean Air Act in 1970. at the time the NEPA was passed and EPA was fonned, The rationale was that the EISs that federal agencies would be developing under NEPA should have an independent review and that the newly formed EPA should perfonn it. EPA developed implementing procedures in 1971 to carry out this responsibility and. in conjunction with the CEQ, has since refined these procedures. Operating procedures are contained in the manual. Policies and Procedures for the Review of Federal Actions Impacting the Environment (revised in 1984), In accordance with these operating procedures. EPA reviews. comments, and makes the comments available to the public. on all federal draft and final EISs, proposed environmental regulations, and other proposed major actions EP A considers to have significant environmental effects, EP A has reviewed all of the draft and final EISs p~epared by federal agencies since the passage of NEP A. The major elements of the 309 review process include the following: . EP A reviews and comments on both the adequacy of the analysis and the environmental impacts of the proposed action itself. . EPA comments on issues related to its "duties and responsibilities", which include all environmental media (Le" air. water,' etc.), methodologies related to media-impact assessment, and areas related to its regulatory responsibilities. . EPA comments on potential violation of or inconsistency with national environmental standards and determines whether adequate, information has been provided to assess potential environmental impacts of the proposed action. . In general, the degree to which the Agency gets involved in attempting to modify a proposed project depends on the level of environmental impacts. the ability and willingness of the proposng federal agency to mitigate those impacts, and the level of responsibility EP A has over the type of impact at issue. . IT the action is a federal project to be located in or on a specific site. the appropriate EP A regional office has the jurisdiction and delegated responsibility for carrying out the Section 309 CAA review and working with the proposing federal agency to resolve any problems. IT the action by the proposing federal department/agency is legislative or regulatory, generally the Section 309 CAA review will be conducted directly in EP A headquarters, . For federal-project cases, EP A headquarters becomes involved if the region finds that the proposed action in the draft EIS is "environmentally unsatisfactory", or that the draft EIS is "inadequate" to assess the potentially significant environmental impacts of proposed actions. In these cases, headquarters must approve the regional comment letter before it is sent. In addition, EP A headquarters works with regional personnel in informing interested parties about the EP A action and will assist the region. as needed, in meeting with the proposing federal agency to resolve the issues, The CEQ is always notified of a draft EIS which has been rated "unsatisfactory" or "inadequate" by EPA. . IT the region finds that the subsequent final EIS is still "environmentally unsatisfactory", the region recommends to the Administrator that the matter be referred to the CEQ for resolution. At this time, EP A headquarters becomes significantly involved in the factual determination and judgment on the EIS. . The process is carried out so as to ensure the independence of the EP A review responsibilities and to coordinate in a manner which emphasizes consultation with the lead agency and informing interested parties of EP A actions and concerns. 8