WSP06698

• File Number: 8030
• Description: Section D General Correspondence-Organizations/Agencies
• State: CO
• Date: 8/1/1973
• Author: National Archives
• Title: U.S. Water Resources Council-1972-1977-Federal Register-Volume 38 Number 147-Part II-Council on Environmental Quality-Preparation of Environmental Impact Statements
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

.

titl~s as set forth in ~ ~ 1500.9 and
150fi.lO(b) or these guidelines.
(I.>) To the maximum extent practi-
cable no administrative a('~ion subject
to section 102(2) (C) 15 to be laken SOO:ler
than ninet.y (90) days after a draft
environmental statement has been cir-
culated for comment, furnished to the
Council &.nd, except where ad\"uncc pub-
He disclosure will result in significantly
increased. costs of procllrement to the
. Goyernment, made availi"l.hle to tile pub-
lic pursuant to these gUIdelines; neither
should such administrative actIOn be
taken sooner than tilirt;y (3D' days after
the final text of an environmental state-
ment <together with comments) has
been made anlil:J.ble to the Counc.il.
commel1tin~ agencies. and the public. In
all cases. agencies should allot a suffi-
cient review period for the final state-
ment so a.'i to comply <;\"ith the statutory
requirement that the "statement ond t.he
comrllents and views of appropr13te Fed-
eral. State, and local ng-encies . ~ . ac-
company the proposal throug-h the exist.
tng' a~ency re\'iew processes." If the final
text of an em'iro:U~lcntal statement is
filed within ninety (90) days after a
draft statement has been circulated for
comment, furnished to the Cc.uncil and
marte publIc pursuan~ to this section of
these guidelines, the mmimum thirty
(30) day period and the ninety <901 da~'
period may run concurrently to the ex-
tenL that they oYCl'lfl.p. An agency may
'at any time supplement or amend a draft
or final elwironmental statement, par-
tkulal'ly when subswntial chongf>s are
Dlade in the proposed Dctior.. or signifi.
cant new information bccomes llvnilable
concerning its environmental :l.S;)ccts. III
such case:: the ar;enC'y should consult
v.ith the Council with respect to the pos-
si1.J1'e need for or de~irabillty of recir-
culation ot" the statement for the ap-
propriate period.
(c) The Council will' publish weekly
In th~ FWERAL REGISTEr. list-:3 of environ-
mental statements recei'o'ed during the
preceding week that are available for
public comment. The uate of p:Jblication
of such list~ shall be the da~e from which
the minir.lum periods for review and ad.
Vli.l1ce a.\'ailabilitr of s~atem~nts shall be
calculated.
(d) The CounciI"s publication of no-
tice of the availability of ::tatements is
in addition to the agency's responsibility,
as described in s 1500Ji(d) of these
guidelines, to insure the fullest pmcti.
cable provision of timely public informa-
tion concerning the existence and avail~
ability of environmental statements. The
agency responSIble for the environ-
mental statement is also responsible for
making the statement, the comments re-
'eeh'ed, and any underlying documents
available to the [Jublic pursuant to the
provisions of the Freedom of Informn.
tion Act l5 U,S.C" 552), without regard
to the exclusion of intra- or interagency
memoranda when sllch memoranda
transmit comments of F~deral agencIes
on the envlronmenta.l impact of the pro-
posed :lction pCi"snant to ~ -1500.9 of these
guidelines. Agency procedures prepared

2055G.

'.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

pursuant to ~ 1500.3 (rd of these guide-
lines shall implemell~ these public in~
forma~ion rCCji..!.ii'cmems and shall ln~
dude urrang(ment5 for aV~1l1ot.illty (If
environmeut:ll statemcnts am[ com~
ments nt tl~(: head and appr:.Jpl'late re-
gional cffices of the responSIble age!'lcy
and at appropriate Statc and areawide
clearinghouses unless the Governor of
the St3te involnd deSIgnates to the
Council some other point for receipt of
this information. Notice of such desig-na-
tion of an alternate pomt for receipt of
this information will be inelu(led in the
Office of Management and Bud~et list-
ing of clearinghouses referred to in
! 1500.9Icl.
(el Where emergency circumstances
make it necessary to take an action \\it-h
sigl11ficant environmental impact with~
out obsen'ing the pro\'isions of these
guidelines conccl'l1ing minimum periods
for agency I'eview and advance availa-
bility of eJl\.lronmental state-ments. the
Federal agency proposing to takc the
action should consult ',\'ith the Council
r..bout alternatin~ arr:1l1gcmelll-s. Simi-
hrly wh(:rc there are o\'erricling con~id-
cratiolls of expense to the Gm'ernmcnt or
impaired program effectiveness, the re-
sponsible agency should CO!lSUlt with the
Coun<;iJ conceming appropriate modi-
fications of the mmin-.um periods.
If) In order tv as~ist the Council in
fulfilling its responsibiliti('s under the
Act and under Executive Order 11514, p.ll
age-llcies shall (as required by section
102(21 (HI of the Act and seci.lon 3U,' of
Executive Order 115141 be l'esponsi\'e to
requests by the CounCIl for reports and
othcr information deCtling with i:ssues
arising in connection with th~ imple-
mentation of the Act. In particular.
agencies shall be responsive to a request
by the Council for the pro::paration and
circulation of 2.n environmental state-
ment. wlless the :l.gency determines that
such a statement is not required, in.
which case the azency sh:l.ll prepare an
environmental a~sessment and a publicly
available record brie!ly seLtIng iorth the
reasons for its determination. In no case.
however, shall the Council's silence or
failure to comment or request pl'ep~.ra-
tion. modification, or recirculation of an
environmental statement or to take other
action with respect to an environmental
statement be construed as bearing in any
way on the Question of the legal reqUire-
ment for or the adequacy of such state-
ment under the Act.

~ 1500.12 J.e~i:;lalh'e uclions.

(a) The COWlcil and the Office of
Management and Budget will cooperate
in giving guidance as needed to assist
agencies in identifying legislati'.-e items
belieyed to have environmental signifi-
cance. Agencies should prepare impact
statements prior to submission of their
legislative proposals to the Office of Man-
agement and Budget. In this regard,
agencies should identify types of repe'ti-
tive legislation reqUiring em.ironmental
impact statements (such as certain types
of bill5 affecting transportation policy or
&.nnual cOllstrucUon authorizatlons).

.

(b) With respect to recommendations
or reports on proposals for lcgisl~tion
to v:hich section 1,J2(::!1 (Cl applies. th~
final Lex!, ot t.he em'irollment:J15tatcment
and comments tl1ereon ~hould be avail-
ab!o:: to the Co::gress ~l1d to Lhe p:Jb;ic
for cO~lsideration in connection wiLh the
proposed legblation or report. In cases
where the scheduling of congressional
hearings on recommendatlOlls or rcpiJrts
on proposals for leg:slaticn which t.he
Fcderrtl agencY 118.S for'\mrded to the
Congress does not allo\\' adequate time for
the completion of a final text of an en-
vironmental statement (together ;vith
comments), a draft en....ironmental state-
ment may be furnished Lo the Congress
and made available to the public pending
transmittal of the comments as received
and the final text.

S 1500.13 '\PI)lit.;tlioll of ~cclion 102
(2) (C) prondure lu exb.lilll; proj.
("l'ls nnd IIro!,:raIH~.

Agencies ha'o'e an obligation to reassess
olll;;oing projects and programs in order
to rl':oid or minimize ad\'erse el1\'il'on-
mC'lltal (:ffe~ts, The secLion 102(2) (C,
procedure shall te applied to further
nujol" Fccter31 actions having a signifi-
c:\nL en'ect on the environment even
thOUgh they arise from projccts or pro-
grams initiated prior to enactment of the
Act 011 January 1. 1970. \Vhile t.!~e status
of the work find deqree of completion
may be considered in determining
whether to proceed wit.h the project.. it
is ~ssen{.ial that the l'lwironmentnl im-..--
pacts of proceeding are reassessed pur-
suant, to the Act's pOlicies ar:.d proce-
dures and, ii the project or program is
continued. that fu:-ther incremental
major actions be shaped so as to enhance
and restore environmenbl Quality [1.5 well
as to avoid or minimize adverse environ-
mental conseQuenc~s. It is also impor-
trmt in further action thflt account be
taken of emironmcnt31 cor.seq~ences no~
fuBy evaluated at the outset of the proj-
ect or program.

~ 1500.1-1- SllPJlIf'mCnlnt"~. gLiirlf'line~;
("\-alualion or pro('cdurC"s.

(a.) The Council after examining E:n-
vironment:\! statements and agency pro-
cedures with respect to .3uch statements
will issue such supplements to these
guidelines as are necessary.
Ib) Agencies will continue to assess
the-ir experience in the implementation
of the section 102(2) (C) provisions of
the Act and in conforming v:ith these
guidelines and report thereon to the
Council by June 30, 1974. Such report.s
should include an identification of ~he
problem areas and suggestions for revi-
sion or clalification of these guidelines
to achiHe effecti\'e coordination of \'"iews
on em'ironmental aspects (and alten1a4
tives, where appropriate) of proposed ac-
tions without imposing unproductive ad~
ministrati\'e procedures. Such reports
shall also indicate what progress the
agency has made in developing substan-
tive criteria llnd guidal~ce for making en.
vironmental assessments as required by
~ 1500.6(c) of this directive and by sec- f1.fl_.'
ti.>nl02(2)(B) of the Act. f\)~r;I\:J

FEDERAL REGISTER, VOL, 38, ':40. 147-WEDNE~DAY. A'JGUST I, 1973