[Title 40 CFR 1502.4]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - July 1, 1996 Edition]
[Title 40 - PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT]
[Chapter V - COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY]
[Part 1502 - ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT]
[Sec. 1502.4 - Major Federal actions requiring the preparation of environmental impact statements.]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




  40
  PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
  18
  1996-07-01
  1996-07-01
  false
  
  1502.4
  Sec. 1502.4
  
    PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
    COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
    ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
  


Sec. 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 (Sec. 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 (Sec. 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.

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    (2) Generically, including actions which have relevant similarities, 
such 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 (Sec. 1501.7), 
tiering (Sec. 1502.20), and other methods listed in Secs. 1500.4 and 
1500.5 to relate broad and narrow actions and to avoid duplication and 
delay.