Sec. 2500.11. Content of environmental impact statements

(a) An environmental impact statement, like an environmental assessment, has three functions: discovery, documentation and analysis. As discovery documents they provide a source of information on the action that is not generally so collected. As documentation texts they represent a formal information retrieval and review process. As analytic tools these documents provide a detailed analysis of the proposed action based on the included data. An agency bases its judgment on how to proceed with the action by reviewing these documents; they are not after the fact justification documents. Environmental impact statements should be clearly written in a brief and concise manner capable of being read and understood by the public. Within the framework presented in subdivision (d) of this section such statements should deal only with the specific significant environmental impacts which can be reasonably anticipated. They should not contain more detail then is appropriate considering the nature and magnitude of the proposed action, the significance of its potential impacts and the existing resources and capability of the agency responsible for the statement.

(b) All draft and final environmental impact statements shall be preceded by a cover sheet stating

(1) whether it is a draft or final;

(2) the name or other descriptive title of the action;

(3) the location (county and town, village or city) of the action;

(4) the name and address of the agency which required its preparation and the name and telephone number of a person at the agency to be contacted for further information;

(5) identification of individuals or organizations which prepared any portion of the statement; and

(6) the date of its completion.

(c) If a draft or final environmental impact statement exceeds 10 pages in length, it shall have a table of contents following the cover sheet.

(d) The body of all draft and final environmental impact statements shall at least contain the following:

(1) a description of the proposed action;

(2) a description of its environmental setting;

(3) a statement of the environmental impact of the proposed action, including its short and long-term effects, and typical associated environmental effects;

(4) an identification of any adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided if the proposed action is implemented;

(5) a discussion of alternatives to the proposed action and the comparable impacts and effects of such alternatives;

(6) an identification of any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources which would be involved in the proposed action should it be implemented;

(7) a description of mitigation measures proposed to minimize the adverse environmental impacts;

(8) a description of any growth-inducing aspects of the proposed action;

(9) a discussion of the effects of the proposed action on the use and conservation of energy;

(10) a list of any underlying studies, reports and other information obtained and considered by the agency in preparing the statement; and

(11) (for final only) copies or a summary of the substantive comments received in response to the draft environmental impact statement and the agency's response to such comments.

(e) An environmental impact statement may incorporate by reference all or portions of other documents which contain information relevant to the statement. The referenced document shall be made available to the public in the same places where the agency makes available copies of the statement. When a statement uses incorporation by reference, the referenced document shall be briefly described as a part of the annotated bibliography of the EIS and its date of preparation provided.

(f) The authority will use the environmental document review notice to record the review status of assessments and impact statements.