(a) The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the basic national charter for protection of the environment. It establishes policy, sets goals, and provides direction for carrying out the policy.

(1) Section 101(a) of NEPA establishes the national environmental policy of the Federal Government to use all practicable means and measures to foster and promote the general welfare, create and maintain conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans. Section 101(b) of NEPA establishes the continuing responsibility of the Federal Government to use all practicable means, consistent with other essential considerations of national policy, to:

(i) Help each generation serve as a trustee of the environment for succeeding generations;

(ii) Assure for all people safe, healthful, productive, and aesthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings;

(iii) Attain the widest range of beneficial uses of the environment without degradation, risk to health or safety, or other undesirable and unintended consequences;

(iv) Preserve important historic, cultural, and natural aspects of our national heritage, and maintain, wherever possible, an environment which supports diversity and variety of individual choice;

(v) Achieve a balance between population and resource use which will permit high standards of living and a wide sharing of life's amenities; and

(vi) Enhance the quality of renewable resources and approach the maximum attainable recycling of depletable resources.

(2) Section 102(2) of NEPA establishes procedural requirements to carry out the policy and responsibilities established in section 101 of NEPA and contains “action-forcing” procedural provisions to ensure Federal agencies implement the letter and spirit of the Act. The purpose of the regulations in this subchapter is to set forth what Federal agencies must and should do to comply with the procedures and achieve the goals of the Act. The President, the Federal agencies, and the courts share responsibility for enforcing the Act so as to achieve the policy goals of section 101.

(b) The regulations in this subchapter implement the requirements of NEPA and ensure that agencies identify, consider, and disclose to the public relevant environmental information early in the process before decisions are made and before actions are taken. The information shall be of high quality. Accurate scientific analysis, expert agency comments, and public scrutiny are essential to implementing NEPA. Most importantly, environmental documents must concentrate on the issues that are truly relevant to the action in question, rather than amassing needless detail. The regulations in this subchapter also are intended to ensure that Federal agencies conduct environmental reviews in a coordinated, consistent, predictable, and timely manner, and to reduce unnecessary burdens and delays. Finally, the regulations in this subchapter promote concurrent environmental reviews to ensure timely and efficient decision making.

(c) Ultimately, of course, it is not better documents but better decisions that count. NEPA's purpose is not to generate paperwork—even excellent paperwork—but to foster excellent action. The NEPA process is intended to help public officials make decisions that are based on an understanding of environmental consequences and take actions that protect, restore, and enhance the environment. The regulations in this subchapter provide the direction to achieve this purpose.

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 decision makers and the public; to reduce paperwork and the accumulation of extraneous background data; and to emphasize important environmental issues and alternatives. Environmental documents shall be concise, clear, and supported by evidence that agencies have conducted 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 such procedures run concurrently rather than consecutively where doing so promotes efficiency.

(d) Encourage and facilitate public engagement in decisions that affect the quality of the human environment, including meaningful engagement with communities such as those with environmental justice concerns.

(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, such as alternatives that will reduce climate change-related effects or address adverse health and environmental effects that disproportionately affect communities with environmental justice concerns.

(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.

(a) Mandate. This subchapter is applicable to and binding on all Federal agencies for implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (Pub. L. 91-190, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (NEPA or the Act). The regulations in this subchapter are issued pursuant to NEPA; the Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970, as amended (Pub. L. 91-224, 42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.); and Executive Order 11514, Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality (March 5, 1970), as amended by Executive Order 11991, Relating to the Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality (May 24, 1977). The regulations in this subchapter apply to the whole of section 102(2) of NEPA. The provisions of the Act and the regulations in this subchapter must be read together as a whole to comply with the Act.

(b) Review of NEPA compliance. It is the Council's intention that judicial review of agency compliance with the regulations in this subchapter not occur before an agency has issued the record of decision or taken other final agency action, except with respect to claims brought by project sponsors related to deadlines under section 107(g)(3) of NEPA. It is also the Council's intention that minor, non-substantive errors that have no effect on agency decision making shall be considered harmless and shall not invalidate an agency action. It is the Council's intention that any allegation of noncompliance with NEPA and the regulations in this subchapter should be resolved as expeditiously as appropriate.

(c) Severability. The sections of this subchapter are separate and severable from one another. If any section or portion therein is stayed or determined to be invalid, or the applicability of any section to any person or entity is held invalid, it is the Council's intention that the validity of the remainder of those parts shall not be affected, with the remaining sections to continue in effect.

Agencies shall prepare analytical, concise, and informative environmental documents by:

(a) Meeting appropriate page limits (§§ 1501.5(g) and 1502.7 of this subchapter).

(b) Discussing only briefly issues other than important ones (e.g., § 1502.2(b) of this subchapter).

(c) Writing environmental documents in plain language (e.g., § 1502.8 of this subchapter).

(d) Following a clear format for environmental impact statements (§ 1502.10 of this subchapter).

(e) Emphasizing the portions of the environmental document that are most useful to decision makers and the public (e.g., §§ 1502.14, 1502.15, and 1502.16 of this subchapter) and reducing emphasis on background material (e.g., § 1502.1 of this subchapter).

(f) Using the scoping process to identify important environmental issues deserving of study and to deemphasize unimportant issues, narrowing the scope of the environmental impact statement process (or, where an agency elects to do so, the environmental assessment process) accordingly (§§ 1501.9 and 1502.4 of this subchapter).

(g) Summarizing the environmental impact statement (§ 1502.12 of this subchapter).

(h) Using programmatic environmental documents and tiering from documents of broad scope to those of narrower scope, to eliminate repetitive discussions of the same issues (§ 1501.11 of this subchapter).

(i) Incorporating by reference (§ 1501.12 of this subchapter).

(j) Integrating NEPA requirements with other environmental review and consultation requirements (§ 1502.24 of this subchapter).

(k) Requiring that comments be as specific as possible (§ 1503.3 of this subchapter).

(l) When changes are minor, attaching and publishing only changes to the draft environmental impact statement rather than rewriting and publishing the entire statement (§ 1503.4(c) of this subchapter).

(m) Eliminating duplication with State, Tribal, and local procedures, by providing for joint preparation of environmental documents where practicable (§ 1506.2 of this subchapter), and with other Federal procedures, by providing that an agency may adopt appropriate environmental documents prepared by another Federal agency (§ 1506.3 of this subchapter).

(n) Combining environmental documents with other documents (§ 1506.4 of this subchapter).

Agencies shall improve efficiency of their NEPA processes by:

(a) Establishing categorical exclusions to define categories of actions that normally do not have a significant effect on the human environment (§§ 1501.4 and 1507.3(c)(8) of this subchapter) and therefore do not require preparation of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.

(b) Using a finding of no significant impact when an action not otherwise excluded will not have a significant effect on the human environment (§ 1501.6 of this subchapter) and therefore does not require preparation of an environmental impact statement.

(c) Integrating the NEPA process into early planning (§ 1501.2 of this subchapter).

(d) Engaging in interagency cooperation, including with affected Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies, before or during the preparation of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement, rather than waiting to request or submit comments on a completed document (§§ 1501.7 and 1501.8 of this subchapter).

(e) Ensuring the swift and fair resolution of lead agency disputes (§ 1501.7 of this subchapter).

(f) Using the scoping process for early identification of the important issues that require detailed analysis (§ 1502.4 of this subchapter).

(g) Meeting appropriate deadlines for the environmental assessment and environmental impact statement processes (§ 1501.10 of this subchapter).

(h) Preparing environmental documents early in the process (§§ 1502.5 and 1501.5(d) of this subchapter).

(i) Integrating NEPA requirements with other environmental review and consultation requirements (§ 1502.24 of this subchapter).

(j) Eliminating duplication with State, Tribal, and local procedures by providing for joint preparation of environmental documents where practicable (§ 1506.2 of this subchapter) and with other Federal procedures by providing that agencies may jointly prepare or adopt appropriate environmental documents prepared by another agency (§ 1506.3 of this subchapter).

(k) Combining environmental documents with other documents (§ 1506.4 of this subchapter).

(l) Using accelerated procedures for proposals for legislation (§ 1506.8 of this subchapter).

Each agency shall interpret the provisions of the Act as a supplement to its existing authority and as a mandate to view policies and missions in the light of the Act's national environmental objectives, to the extent consistent with its existing authority. Agencies shall review their policies, procedures, and regulations accordingly and revise them as necessary to ensure full compliance with the purposes and provisions of the Act and the regulations in this subchapter. The phrase “to the fullest extent possible” in section 102 of NEPA means that each agency of the Federal Government shall comply with the Act unless an agency activity, decision, or action is exempted from NEPA by law or compliance with NEPA is impossible.