E. Attachments

(1) Draft statements.-Normally draft environmental statements shall not have attachments; however, in some cases it shall be appropriate to attach environmental assessments, evaluations, or reports prepared by applicants or solicited from consultants or other Federal agencies.

(2) Final statements. In addition to appropriate environmental assessments, evaluations, or reports prepared by applicants or consultants, attachments to final environmental statements shall include all written responses from:

(a) Bureaus and offices with delegated jurisdiction or special environmental expertise;

(b) Other Federal agencies with jurisdiction by law or special environmental expertise;

(c) State and local agencies which are authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards;

(d) Responsible private organizations and associations which represent the opinions of wider groups concerning the proposed action or its environmental impact;

(e) Recognized experts.

7. Coordination

In conjunction to the procedures set forth herein, existing mechanisms for obtaining the views of Departmental bureaus and offices and of other Federal, State, and local agencies will be utilized to the maximum extent practicable in the preparation and subsequent review of draft environmental statements.

A. Departmental Bureaus and Offices

(1) Because of the Department's extensive environmental expertise many of the Department's bureaus and offices may have inputs to the preparation of environmental statements. Accordingly working-level consultations should be initiated early in the development of the proposal and in the preparation of draft environmental statements. (2) Draft statements shall be circulated to all of the Department's bureaus and offices which have delegated jurisdiction or special environmental expertise. Comments received from these bureaus and offices shall be attached to the final environmental statement.

B. Other Federal and Federal-State Agencies

(1) Other Federal and Federal-State agencies shall be consulted in connection with preparation of environmental statements where those agencies have jurisdiction by law or special environmental expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved, and comments shall be obtained from those Federal and Federal-State agencies which are authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards. Section 7 and Appendix II to the CEQ Guidelines [Appendix A] shall be used to determine those agencies from which consultations and comments should be solicited. Draft statements shall be sent to the appropriate offices indicated in Appendix III of the CEQ Guidelines [Appendix A for official agency review and comment.

(2) The Environmental Protection Agency shall be consulted and comments requested on matters related to air or water quality standards, noise control, solid waste disposal, pesticide regulation, radia

tion criteria and standards, or other provisions of the authority of EPA.

(3) A period of not less than forty-five (45) days should be established for reply, after which it may be presumed, unless the agency requests a specific extension of time, that the agency consulted has no comment to make. Where time is a critical factor, time limits of thirty (30) days may be established. A period of forty-five (45) days will always be allowed for EPA review.

C. State and Local Agencies

(1) Where no public hearing has been held on the proposed action at which the appropriate State and local review has been invited, and where review of the proposed action by State and local agencies: authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards is relevant, such State and local review shall be provided for as follows:

(a) For Federal water and related land resources plans, projects, and programs, review by State and local governments shall be through procedures set forth by the Water Resources Council (Section IIIE of Policies, Standards, and Procedures in the Formulation, Evaluation, and Review of Plans for Use and Development of Water and Related Land Resources, approved by the President on May 15, 1962, and printed as Senate Document 97, 87th Congress; Handbook for Coordination of Planning Studies and Reports, June 1969).

(b) For direct Federal development projects, and for projects assisted under programs listed in Attachment D of the Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-95, review by State and local governments shall be through the State and Regional or Metropolitan Clearinghouses in accordance with the procedures set forth under Part 1 of OMB Circular No. A-95 and 511 DM 5, Intergovernmental Relations.

(c) For actions affecting the cultural or historic environment, review by State and local agencies shall be through procedures set forth by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (36) F.R. 3310), and draft environmental statements shall reflect consultations with the State Liaison Officer for Historic Preservation and with the State Archaeologist.

(d) For actions having an impact on Indian lands or communities, review by State and local agencies shall also include reviewby any Indian tribal governing bodies.

(2) Where the procedures in (1) above are not appropriate, review and comment by State and local agencies authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards may be obtained by distributing the draft environmental statement to the appropriate State and Regional or Metropolitan Clearinghouses, unless the Governor of the State involved has designated some other point for obtaining this review.

(3) Clearinghouse procedures allow State and local agencies thirty (30) days for initial comment with an extension of thirty (30) days upon request.

8. Public Participation and Availability of Statements

A. The public will be provided timely information and material sufficient for an understanding of plans and programs with environ

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mental impact in order to obtain the views of interested parties. The public will also be provided information on alternative courses of action.

B. Public hearings may be held to solicit the views of interested parties. Notice of such hearings shall include publication in the Federal Register no less than thirty (30) days before the hearing date, and such other notice as the bureau or office deems appropriate. if it is decided to prepare a draft environmental statement prior to a relevant hearing, the statement shall be made available to the public at least fifteen (15) days, and preferably thirty (30) days, prior to the hearing date. Procedures for discretionary public hearings are provided in 455 DM 1.

C. Draft and final environmental statements, including required attachments, shall be made available for public inspection at the following locations:

(1) The Office of Communications (for statements considered especially newsworthy by the Director of Communications; otherwise this office will assist the public in locating and inspecting such statements). (2) The Bureau or Office headquarters.

(3) Av involved Bureau regional offices.

(4) Bureau field offices, where appropriate.

(5) State and Regional or Metropolitan Clearinghouse, where appropriate.

(6) A local public meeting place, such as a County courthouse or public library, in the immediate vicinity of the proposed action, where appropriate.

D. A complete record of any hearings, draft and final environmental statements, and all comments received related thereto shall be made available for public inspection at the following locations:

(1) The Bureau or Office headquarters.

(2) The Bureau regional and/or field office with primary involve

ment.

E. Whenever possible copies of draft and final environmental statements, including required attachments, shall be made available to the public at no cost. In those cases where the cost of reproduction of such statements is substantial, the public may be charged a fee no greater than the incremental costs of reproduction (43 CFR 2.3).

F. Notices of availabilty of draft and final enviromental statements will be made in the Federal Register at the time of transmittal of the statement to CEQ. Formats are provided in Appendix E. 9. Procedures for Preparing and Processing Environmental State

ments

A. General Procedures

(1) Program and project recommendations and decisions are based on various technical, economic, social and environmental factors. These factors are generally incorporated into a program justification. or plan formulation document. Environmental statements are separate documents which analyze the salient environmental information in order to provide decision makers with comprehensive and concise, factual information concerning the environmental impacts of the proposed action and related alternatives. Accordingly, environmental statements shall not be used to recommend or justify proposed actions.

(2) Bureaus and offices shall identify at what stage or stages of a series of actions the environmental statement procedures of this directive will be applied. It may be necessary to use these procedures both in the development of a national program and in the review of proposed projects within the national program. Care should be exercised so as not to duplicate the review process, but when actions being considered different significantly from those that have already been reviewed pursuant to this chapter, an environmental statement should be provided.

(3) When a proposed grant, leasing, or similar program does not entail approval by other agencies of numerous, but relatively minor, projects within the program, the views of Federal, State, and local agencies in the legislative, and possibly appropriation, process may have to suffice. The principle to be applied is to obtain views of other agencies at the earliest feasible time in the development of program and project proposals.

(4) Statements shall normally be prepared at the organizational level responsible for initiating or implementing the proposed action. A bureau or office may seek information helpful to the preparation of an environmental statement from any appropriate source, but shall itself prepare the statement.

B. Types of Environmental Statements

(1) Draft statement. This document is as complete as possible and is formally circulated to Federal, State, and local agencies and to other interested parties for their review and comment. It may be circulated concurrently with the bureau's or office's review of the proposed action as long as final decisions or recommendations are not made prior to consideration of comments received.

(2) Final statement.-This is the completed document which incorporates review comments and discusses unresolved issues. It is the document which must accompany the proposed action through the Department's final decision-making process.

C. Administrative Actions

(1) Administrative actions are defined as any proposed action subject to Section 102 (2) (C) of the Act other than proposals for legislation to the Congress or reports on legislation.

(2) To the maximum extent practicable, no administrative action is to be taken sooner than ninety (90) days after a draft environmental statement has been furnished to CEQ, circulated for comment, and publicly announced in the Federal Register, whichever is later.

(3) To the maximum extent practicable, no administrative action is to be taken sooner than thirty (30) days after a final environmental statement has been made available to CEQ and the policy. If the final statement is filed within the ninety (90) days period in (2) above, the two periods may run concurrently to the extent that they overlap. (4) Where, in the opinion of the responsible bureau or office, emergency circumstances, overriding considerations of expense to the Government, or impaired program effectiveness make it necessary to take an action with significant environmental impact without observing the time limitations in (2) and (3) above, the bureau or office concerned shall consult with the Assistant Secretary-Program Policy, who shall in turn consult with CEQ, about alternative arrangements.

D. Legislative Proposals and Favorable Reports on Legislation (1) Environmental statements for legislative proposals and reports shall be handled in accordance with Section 3a of OMB Bulletin 72-6 [Appendix B, Section 10 (c) of the CEQ Guidelines [Appendix A]. and, except as modified herein, Section .9.F of this chapter.

(2) Bureaus and offices shall be responsible for the preparation of environmental statements for their legislative proposals which have significant impact upon the environment, and shall be responsible for any necessary consultations with appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies in the course of preparing and reviewing such statements. State and local agency consultations are not required unless there is a specific impact in the jurisdiction of a State or local agency.

(a) Information copies of approved draft or final environmental statements shall accompany all such legislative proposals at the time they are submitted by bureaus and offices to the Legislative Counsel for circulation within the Department, and shall be circulated with such proposals.

(b) Information copies of approved draft or final environmental statements shall accompany the Legislative Counsel's submittals of such legislative proposals to OMB for clearance. (3) In referring introduced legislation to bureaus and offices for comments, the Legislative Counsel, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary-Program Policy, shall indicate whether an environmental statement will be required in the event of a proposed favorable report: and, if such statement will be required, designate the bureau or office responsible for its preparation.

(a) The designated bureau or office shall submit the proposed draft statement to the Legislative Counsel at the same time that they submit comments on the introduced legislation. This proposed draft statement shall accompany the proposed favorable report on its "two-day wait" period within the Department.

(b) The approved draft environmental statement shall be circulated by the designated bureau or office for official review and comment at the same time that the Legislative Counsel submits the Department's proposed favorable report, accompanied by information copies of the statement, to OMB for clearance. (4) Final environmental statements for legislative proposals and for favorable reports on legislation, and draft statements where ap propriate under Section 10(e) of the CEQ Guidelines [Appendix A), shall be sent to the Congress by the Legislative Counsel.

(5) The Legislative Counsel may permit deviation from the procedures set forth herein when undue delay would occur in the pres entation of Departmental views to the Congress.

E. Annual Budget Estimates

(1) Environmental statements and summary lists for annual budget estimates shall be handled in accordance with Section 3b of OMB Bulletin 72-6 [Appendix B], and, except as modified herein, Section .9.F of this chapter.

(2) Draft environmental statements for projects and programs included in annual budget estimates shall be prepared and circulated by September 1 of the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year under con sideration.