Following the decision to prepare an EIS, a Notice of Intent (NOI) is published in the Federal Register. The NOI serves as a formal announcement of intent to prepare an EIS. This marks the start of the public scoping period, , “an early and open process…to determine the scope of issues for analysis…including identifying important issues and eliminating from further study unimportant issues” (40 CFR 1502.4). The scoping period is at least 30 days (10 CFR 1021.311(d)).
After scoping decisions are made, a Draft EIS is prepared. When the Draft EIS is complete, a Federal Register Notice of Availability (NOA) is published in the Federal Register to notify the public of the Draft EIS’s availability for review and comment. A minimum 45-day public comment period, including at least one public hearing, is held, during which the public may comment on the Draft EIS. In the Final EIS DOE considers and responds to all timely public comments received during the public comment period. A NOA announces the availability of the Final EIS. Following a 30-day waiting period, a Record of Decision (ROD) can be published announcing and explaining DOE’s decision and describing any commitments for mitigating potential environmental impacts. It is important to note that while NEPA requires federal agencies and decision makers to consider the environmental impacts of their actions, the NEPA review process does not dictate an outcome. An agency can still proceed with an action regardless of the magnitude of its impacts, as long as the agency has considered all potential environmental impacts.