Why are the agencies preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement?
The Energy Policy Act does not specifically require preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The participating agencies are preparing a PEIS to meet congressional direction in Section 368(a)(2) of the Energy Policy Act to perform any environmental reviews required to complete corridor designation, and to integrate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning process into the proposed corridor designations at the earliest possible time. The agencies also chose to prepare a PEIS because it is a well-established vehicle for examining environmental concerns and a familiar mechanism for public participation in important resource management actions. Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations direct federal agencies to prepare EISs at points in the planning and decisionmaking process that are meaningful. Preparing a PEIS now is consistent with this regulation, even though the analyses reported in the PEIS conclude that designating corridors would have no on-the
Related Questions
- Why are the Alternative Arrangements being used in NOMA instead of preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)?
- Why are the Alternative Arrangements being used in GNO instead of preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)?
- Why are the agencies preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement?
