Sec. 1.1314  Environmental impact statements (EISs).

    (a) Draft Environmental Impact Statements (DEISs) (Sec. 1.1315) and 
Final Environmental Impact Statements (FEISs) (referred to collectively 
as EISs) (Sec. 1.1317) shall be prepared by the Bureau responsible for 
processing the proposal when the Commission's or the Bureau's analysis 
of the EA (Sec. 1.1308) indicates that the proposal will have a 
significant effect upon the environment and the matter has not been 
resolved by an amendment.
    (b) As soon as practically feasible, the Bureau will publish in the 
Federal Register a Notice of Intent to prepare EISs. The Notice shall 
briefly identify the proposal, concisely describe the environmental 
issues and concerns presented by the subject application, and generally 
invite participation from affected or involved agencies, authorities and 
other interested persons.
    (c) The EISs shall not address non-environmental considerations. To 
safeguard against repetitive and unnecessarily lengthy documents, the 
Statements, where feasible, shall incorporate by reference material set 
forth in previous documents, with only a brief summary of its content. 
In preparing the EISs, the Bureau will identify and address the 
significant environmental issues and eliminate the insignificant issues 
from analysis.
    (d) To assist in the preparation of the EISs, the Bureau may request 
further information from the applicant, interested persons and agencies 
and authorities, which have jurisdiction by law or which have relevant 
expertise. The Bureau may direct that technical studies be made by the 
applicant and that the applicant obtain expert opinion concerning the 
potential environmental problems and costs associated with the proposed 
action, as well as comparative analyses of alternatives. The Bureau may 
also consult experts in an effort to identify measures that could be 
taken to minimize the adverse effects and alternatives to the proposed 
facilities that are not, or are less, objectionable. The Bureau may also 
direct that objections be raised with appropriate local, state or 
federal land use agencies or authorities (if their views have not been 
previously sought).
    (e) The Bureau responsible for processing the particular application 
and, thus, preparing the EISs shall draft supplements to Statements 
where significant new circumstances occur or information arises relevant 
to environmental concerns and bearing upon the application.
    (f) The Application, the EA, the DEIS, and the FEIS and all related 
documents, including the comments filed by the public and any agency, 
shall be part of the administrative record and will be routinely 
available for public inspection.
    (g) If EISs are to be prepared, the applicant must provide the 
community with notice of the availability of environmental documents and 
the scheduling of any Commission hearings in that action.
    (h) The timing of agency action with respect to applications subject 
to EISs

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is set forth in 40 CFR 1506.10. No decision shall be made until ninety 
(90) days after the Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement is published in the Federal Register, and thirty (30) 
days after the Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement is published in the Federal Register, which time period may 
run concurrently, See 40 CFR 1506.10(c); see also Secs. 1.1315(b) and 
1.1317(b).
    (i) Guidance concerning preparation of the Draft and Final 
Environmental Statements is set out in 40 CFR part .
[51 1502 FR 15000 , Apr. 22, 1986, as amended at  53 FR 28394 , July 28, 1988]