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federal approval of permits, loans, loan guarantees, insurance or other
actions. What must and can agencies do to apply NEPA early in these cases?
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A. Section 1501.2(d) requires federal agencies to take steps toward ensuring
that private parties and state and local entities initiate environmental
studies as soon as federal involvement in their proposals can be foreseen.
This section is intended to ensure that environmental factors are considered
at an early stage in the planning process and to avoid the situation where the
applicant for a federal permit or approval has completed planning and
eliminating all alternatives to the proposed action by the time the EIS
process commences or before the EIS process has been completed. Through early
consultation, business applicants and approving agencies may gain better
appreciation of each other's needs and foster a decision making process which
avoids later unexpected confrontations.
Federal agencies are required by Section 1507.3(b) to develop procedures to
carry out Section 1501.2(d). The procedures should include an "outreach
program", such as a means for prospective applicants to conduct pre-
application consultations with the lead and cooperating agencies. Applicants
need to find out, in advance of project planning, what environmental studies
or other information will be required, and what mitigation requirements are
likely, in connection with the later federal NEPA process. Agencies should
designate staff to advise potential applicants of the agency's NEPA
information requirements and should publicize their pre-application procedures
and information requirements in newsletters or other media used by potential
applicants. Complementing Section 1501.2(d), Section 1506.5(a) requires
agencies to assist applicants by outlining the types of information required
in those cases where the agency requires the applicant to submit environmental
data for possible use by the agency in preparing an EIS.
Section 1506.5(b) allows agencies to authorize preparation of environmental
assessments by applicants. Thus, the procedures should also include a means
for anticipating and utilizing applicants' environmental studies or "early
corporate environmental assessments" to fulfill some of the federal agency's
NEPA obligations. However, in such cases the agency must still evaluate
independently the environmental issues and take responsibility for the
environmental assessment. These provisions are intended to encourage and
enable private and other non-federal entities to build environmental
considerations into their own planning processes in a way that facilitates the
application of NEPA and avoids delay.
9. Q. To what extent must an agency inquire into whether an applicant for a
federal permit, funding or other approval of a proposal will also need
approval from another agency for the same proposal or some other related
aspect of it?
A. Agencies must integrate the NEPA process into other planning at the
earliest possible time to insure that planning and decisions reflect
environmental values, to avoid delays later in the process, and to head off
potential conflicts. Specifically, the agency must "provide for cases where
actions are planned by . . . applicants," so that designated staff are
available to advise potential applicants of studies or other information that
will foreseeably be required for the later federal action; the agency shall
consult with the applicant if the agency foresees its own involvement in the
proposal; and it shall insure that the NEPA process commences at the earliest
possible time. Section 1501.2(d). (See Question 8).
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