[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 31]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR1500.2]

[Page 869]
 
                   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.