The Congress authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent possible:
Prior to making any detailed statement, the head of the lead agency shall consult with and obtain the comments of any Federal agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved. Copies of such statement and the comments and views of the appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies, which are authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards, shall be made available to the President, the Council on Environmental Quality and to the public as provided by section 552 of title 5, and shall accompany the proposal through the existing agency review processes;
The procedures in this subparagraph shall not relieve the Federal official of his responsibilities for the scope, objectivity, and content of the entire statement or of any other responsibility under this chapter; and further, this subparagraph does not affect the legal sufficiency of statements prepared by State agencies with less than statewide jurisdiction.1
1 So in original. The period probably should be a semicolon.
42 U.S.C. § 4332
EDITORIAL NOTES
AMENDMENTS2023-Par. (2)(A), (B). Pub. L. 118-5, §321(a)(1), (2), substituted "ensure" for "insure".Par. (2)(C). Pub. L. 118-5, §321(a)(3)(A), (C), inserted "consistent with the provisions of this chapter and except where compliance would be inconsistent with other statutory requirements," before "include in every" in introductory provisions and substituted "the head of the lead agency" for "the responsible Federal official" in concluding provisions.Par. (2)(C)(i) to (v). Pub. L. 118-5, §321(a)(3)(B), added cls. (i) to (v) and struck out former cls. (i) to (v) which read as follows:"(i) the environmental impact of the proposed action,"(ii) any adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided should the proposal be implemented, "(iii) alternatives to the proposed action,"(iv) the relationship between local short-term uses of man's environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity, and "(v) any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources which would be involved in the proposed action should it be implemented." Par. (2)(D). Pub. L. 118-5, §321(a)(6), added subpar. (D). Former subpar. (D) redesignated (G). Pub. L. 118-5, §321(a)(4), substituted "any detailed" for "Any detailed".Par. (2)(E), (F). Pub. L. 118-5, §321(a)(6), added subpars. (E) and (F). Former subpars. (E) and (F) redesignated (H) and (I), respectively. Par. (2)(G), (H). Pub. L. 118-5, §321(a)(5), redesignated subpars. (D) and (E) as (G) and (H), respectively.Par. (2)(I). Pub. L. 118-5, §321(a)(5), (7), redesignated subpar. (F) as (I) and inserted "consistent with the provisions of this chapter," before "recognize".Par. (2)(J) to (L). Pub. L. 118-5, §321(a)(5), redesignated subpars. (G) to (I) as (J) to (L), respectively.1975-Par. (2)(D) to (I). Pub. L. 94-83 added subpar. (D) and redesignated former subpars. (D) to (H) as (E) to (I), respectively.
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
CERTAIN COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH ACTIVITIES Pub. L. 104-88, §401, 109 Stat. 955, provided that: "The licensing of a launch vehicle or launch site operator (including any amendment, extension, or renewal of the license) under [former] chapter 701 of title 49, United States Code [now chapter 509 (§50901 et seq.) of Title 51, National and Commercial Space Programs], shall not be considered a major Federal action for purposes of section 102(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(C)) if- "(1) the Department of the Army has issued a permit for the activity; and "(2) the Army Corps of Engineers has found that the activity has no significant impact."
EXECUTIVE DOCUMENTS
EX. ORD. NO. 13352. FACILITATION OF COOPERATIVE CONSERVATIONEx. Ord. No. 13352, Aug. 26, 2004, 69 F.R. 52989, provided:By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:SECTION 1. Purpose. The purpose of this order is to ensure that the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency implement laws relating to the environment and natural resources in a manner that promotes cooperative conservation, with an emphasis on appropriate inclusion of local participation in Federal decisionmaking, in accordance with their respective agency missions, policies, and regulations.SEC. 2. Definition. As used in this order, the term "cooperative conservation" means actions that relate to use, enhancement, and enjoyment of natural resources, protection of the environment, or both, and that involve collaborative activity among Federal, State, local, and tribal governments, private for-profit and nonprofit institutions, other nongovernmental entities and individuals. SEC. 3. Federal Activities. To carry out the purpose of this order, the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations and in coordination with each other as appropriate:(a) carry out the programs, projects, and activities of the agency that they respectively head that implement laws relating to the environment and natural resources in a manner that:(i) facilitates cooperative conservation;(ii) takes appropriate account of and respects the interests of persons with ownership or other legally recognized interests in land and other natural resources;(iii) properly accommodates local participation in Federal decisionmaking; and (iv) provides that the programs, projects, and activities are consistent with protecting public health and safety;(b) report annually to the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality on actions taken to implement this order; and(c) provide funding to the Office of Environmental Quality Management Fund (42 U.S.C. 4375) for the Conference for which section 4 of this order provides. SEC. 4. White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation. The Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations:(a) convene not later than 1 year after the date of this order, and thereafter at such times as the Chairman deems appropriate, a White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation (Conference) to facilitate the exchange of information and advice relating to (i) cooperative conservation and (ii) means for achievement of the purpose of this order; and(b) ensure that the Conference obtains information in a manner that seeks from Conference participants their individual advice and does not involve collective judgment or consensus advice or deliberation.SEC. 5. General Provision. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, its officers, employees or agents, or any other person. George W. Bush.
- Administrator
- The term "Administrator" means the Administrator of General Services.