[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 40, Volume 31]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 40CFR1500.2]



[Page 867]

 

                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT

 

               CHAPTER V--COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

 

PART 1500_PURPOSE, POLICY, AND MANDATE--Table of Contents

 

Sec.  1500.2  Policy.



    Federal agencies shall to the fullest extent possible:

    (a) Interpret and administer the policies, regulations, and public 

laws of the United States in accordance with the policies set forth in 

the Act and in these regulations.

    (b) Implement procedures to make the NEPA process more useful to 

decisionmakers and the public; to reduce paperwork and the accumulation 

of extraneous background data; and to emphasize real environmental 

issues and alternatives. Environmental impact statements shall be 

concise, clear, and to the point, and shall be supported by evidence 

that agencies have made the necessary environmental analyses.

    (c) Integrate the requirements of NEPA with other planning and 

environmental review procedures required by law or by agency practice so 

that all such procedures run concurrently rather than consecutively.

    (d) Encourage and facilitate public involvement in decisions which 

affect the quality of the human environment.

    (e) Use the NEPA process to identify and assess the reasonable 

alternatives to proposed actions that will avoid or minimize adverse 

effects of these actions upon the quality of the human environment.

    (f) Use all practicable means, consistent with the requirements of 

the Act and other essential considerations of national policy, to 

restore and enhance the quality of the human environment and avoid or 

minimize any possible adverse effects of their actions upon the quality 

of the human environment.