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This would be followed by the 30-day review period and issuance of a Record of
Decision by the adopting agency. If the proposed action by the adopting agency
is not substantially the same as that in the EIS (i.e., if an EIS on one
action is being adapted for use in a decision on another action), the EIS
would be treated as a draft and circulated for the normal public comment
period and other procedures. Section 1506.3(b).
31a. Do the Council's NEPA regulations apply to independent regulatory
agencies like the Federal Energy Regulatory commission (FERC) and the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission?
A. The statutory requirements of NEPA's Section 102 apply to " all agencies of
the federal government." The NEPA regulations implement the procedural
provisions of NEPA as set forth in NEPA's Section 102(2) for all agencies of
the federal government. The NEPA regulations apply to independent regulatory
agencies, however, they do not direct independent regulatory agencies or other
agencies to make decisions in any particular way or in a way inconsistent with
an agency's statutory charter. Sections 1500.3, 1500.6, 1507.1, and 1507.3.
31b. Q. Can an Executive Branch agency like the Department of the Interior
adopt an EIS prepared by an independent regulatory agency such as FERC?
A. If an independent regulatory agency such as FERC has prepared an EIS in
connection with its approval of a proposed project, an Executive Branch agency
(e.g., the Bureau of Land Management in the Department of the Interior) may,
in accordance with Section 1506.3, adopt the EIS or a portion thereof for its
use in considering the same proposal. In such a case the EIS must, to the
satisfaction of the adopting agency, meet the standards for an adequate
statement under the NEPA regulations (including scope and quality of analysis
of alternatives) and must satisfy the adopting agency's comments and
suggestions. If the independent regulatory agency fails to comply with the
NEPA regulations, the cooperating or adopting agency may find that it is
unable to adopt the EIS, thus forcing the preparation of a new EIS or EIS
Supplement for the same action. The NEPA regulations were made applicable to
all federal agencies in order to avoid this result, and to achieve uniform
application and efficiency of the NEPA process.
32. Q. Under what circumstances do old EISs have to be supplemented before
taking action on a proposal?
A. As a rule of thumb, if the proposal has not yet been implemented, or if the
EIS concerns an ongoing program, EISs that are more than 5 years old should be
carefully reexamined to determine if the criteria in Section 1502.9 compel
preparation of an EIS supplement.
If an agency has made a substantial change in a proposed action that is
relevant to environmental concerns, or if there are significant new
circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on
the proposed action or its impacts, a supplemental EIS must be prepared for an
old EIS so that the agency has the best possible information to make any
necessary substantive changes in its decisions regarding the proposal. Section
1502.9(c).
33a. Q. When must a referral of an interagency disagreement be made to the
Council?
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