42 U.S.C. § 4370m-4 - Coordination of required reviews

• Cite as: 42 U.S.C. § 4370m-4

(a) Concurrent reviews

To integrate environmental reviews and authorizations, each agency shall, to the maximum extent practicable-

(1) carry out the obligations of the agency with respect to a covered project under any other applicable law concurrently, and in conjunction with, other environmental reviews and authorizations being conducted by other cooperating or participating agencies, including environmental reviews and authorizations required under NEPA, unless the agency determines that doing so would impair the ability of the agency to carry out the statutory obligations of the agency; and

(2) formulate and implement administrative, policy, and procedural mechanisms to enable the agency to ensure completion of the environmental review process in a timely, coordinated, and environmentally responsible manner.

(b) Adoption, incorporation by reference, and use of documents

(1) ¹ State environmental documents; supplemental documents

(A) Use of existing documents

(i) In general

On the request of a project sponsor, a lead agency shall consider and, as appropriate, adopt or incorporate by reference, the analysis and documentation that has been prepared for a covered project under State laws and procedures as the documentation, or part of the documentation, required to complete an environmental review for the covered project, if the analysis and documentation were, as determined by the lead agency in consultation with the Council on Environmental Quality, prepared under circumstances that allowed for opportunities for public participation and consideration of alternatives, environmental consequences, and other required analyses that are substantially equivalent to what would have been available had the documents and analysis been prepared by a Federal agency pursuant to NEPA.

(ii) Guidance by CEQ

The Council on Environmental Quality may issue guidance to carry out this subsection.

(B) NEPA obligations

An environmental document adopted under subparagraph (A) or a document that includes documentation incorporated under subparagraph (A) may serve as the documentation required for an environmental review or a supplemental environmental review required to be prepared by a lead agency under NEPA.

(C) Supplementation of State documents

If the lead agency adopts or incorporates analysis and documentation described in subparagraph (A), the lead agency shall prepare and publish a supplemental document if the lead agency determines that during the period after preparation of the analysis and documentation and before the adoption or incorporation-