[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: 40CFR1502.2]

[Page 876]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
               CHAPTER V--COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
 
PART 1502_ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  1502.2  Implementation.

    To achieve the purposes set forth in Sec.  1502.1 agencies shall 
prepare environmental impact statements in the following manner:
    (a) Environmental impact statements shall be analytic rather than 
encyclopedic.
    (b) Impacts shall be discussed in proportion to their significance. 
There shall be only brief discussion of other than significant issues. 
As in a finding of no significant impact, there should be only enough 
discussion to show why more study is not warranted.
    (c) Environmental impact statements shall be kept concise and shall 
be no longer than absolutely necessary to comply with NEPA and with 
these regulations. Length should vary first with potential environmental 
problems and then with project size.
    (d) Environmental impact statements shall state how alternatives 
considered in it and decisions based on it will or will not achieve the 
requirements of sections 101 and 102(1) of the Act and other 
environmental laws and policies.
    (e) The range of alternatives discussed in environmental impact 
statements shall encompass those to be considered by the ultimate agency 
decisionmaker.
    (f) Agencies shall not commit resources prejudicing selection of 
alternatives before making a final decision (Sec.  1506.1).
    (g) Environmental impact statements shall serve as the means of 
assessing the environmental impact of proposed agency actions, rather 
than justifying decisions already made.