US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 42USC4332]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                CHAPTER 55--NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
 
                    SUBCHAPTER I--POLICIES AND GOALS
 
Sec. 4332. Cooperation of agencies; reports; availability of 
        information; recommendations; international and national 
        coordination of efforts
        
    The Congress authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent 
possible: (1) the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United 
States shall be interpreted and administered in accordance with the 
policies set forth in this chapter, and (2) all agencies of the Federal 
Government shall--
        (A) utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach which will 
    insure the integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the 
    environmental design arts in planning and in decisionmaking which 
    may have an impact on man's environment;
        (B) identify and develop methods and procedures, in consultation 
    with the Council on Environmental Quality established by subchapter 
    II of this chapter, which will insure that presently unquantified 
    environmental amenities and values may be given appropriate 
    consideration in decisionmaking along with economic and technical 
    considerations;
        (C) include in every recommendation or report on proposals for 
    legislation and other major Federal actions significantly affecting 
    the quality of the human environment, a detailed statement by the 
    responsible official on--
            (i) the environmental impact of the proposed action,
            (ii) any adverse environmental effects which cannot be 
        avoided should the proposal be implemented,
            (iii) alternatives to the proposed action,
            (iv) the relationship between local short-term uses of man's 
        environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term 
        productivity, and
            (v) any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of 
        resources which would be involved in the proposed action should 
        it be implemented.

    Prior to making any detailed statement, the responsible Federal 
    official shall consult with and obtain the comments of any Federal 
    agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with 
    respect to any environmental impact involved. Copies of such 
    statement and the comments and views of the appropriate Federal, 
    State, and local agencies, which are authorized to develop and 
    enforce environmental standards, shall be made available to the 
    President, the Council on Environmental Quality and to the public as 
    provided by section 552 of title 5, and shall accompany the proposal 
    through the existing agency review processes;
        (D) Any detailed statement required under subparagraph (C) after 
    January 1, 1970, for any major Federal action funded under a program 
    of grants to States shall not be deemed to be legally insufficient 
    solely by reason of having been prepared by a State agency or 
    official, if:
            (i) the State agency or official has statewide jurisdiction 
        and has the responsibility for such action,
            (ii) the responsible Federal official furnishes guidance and 
        participates in such preparation,
            (iii) the responsible Federal official independently 
        evaluates such statement prior to its approval and adoption, and
            (iv) after January 1, 1976, the responsible Federal official 
        provides early notification to, and solicits the views of, any 
        other State or any Federal land management entity of any action 
        or any alternative thereto which may have significant impacts 
        upon such State or affected Federal land management entity and, 
        if there is any disagreement on such impacts, prepares a written 
        assessment of such impacts and views for incorporation into such 
        detailed statement.

    The procedures in this subparagraph shall not relieve the Federal 
    official of his responsibilities for the scope, objectivity, and 
    content of the entire statement or of any other responsibility under 
    this chapter; and further, this subparagraph does not affect the 
    legal sufficiency of statements prepared by State agencies with less 
    than statewide jurisdiction.\1\
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    \1\ So in original. The period probably should be a semicolon.
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        (E) study, develop, and describe appropriate alternatives to 
    recommended courses of action in any proposal which involves 
    unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of available 
    resources;
        (F) recognize the worldwide and long-range character of 
    environmental problems and, where consistent with the foreign policy 
    of the United States, lend appropriate support to initiatives, 
    resolutions, and programs designed to maximize international 
    cooperation in anticipating and preventing a decline in the quality 
    of mankind's world environment;
        (G) make available to States, counties, municipalities, 
    institutions, and individuals, advice and information useful in 
    restoring, maintaining, and enhancing the quality of the 
    environment;
        (H) initiate and utilize ecological information in the planning 
    and development of resource-oriented projects; and
        (I) assist the Council on Environmental Quality established by 
    subchapter II of this chapter.

(Pub. L. 91-190, title I, Sec. 102, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 853; Pub. L. 
94-83, Aug. 9, 1975, 89 Stat. 424.)


                               Amendments

    1975--Subpars. (D) to (I). Pub. L. 94-83 added subpar. (D) and 
redesignated former subpars. (D) to (H) as (E) to (I), respectively.


               Certain Commercial Space Launch Activities

    Pub. L. 104-88, title IV, Sec. 401, Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 955, 
provided that: ``The licensing of a launch vehicle or launch site 
operator (including any amendment, extension, or renewal of the license) 
under chapter 701 of title 49, United States Code, shall not be 
considered a major Federal action for purposes of section 102(C) of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(C)) if--
        ``(1) the Department of the Army has issued a permit for the 
    activity; and
        ``(2) the Army Corps of Engineers has found that the activity 
    has no significant impact.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 2242, 2297h-5, 4334, 6508, 
7153, 7274g, 7609, 8473, 9117, 10132, 10133, 10134, 10141, 10155, 10161, 
10165, 10196, 10197 of this title; title 15 section 793; title 16 
sections 410hh, 544o, 1379, 1536, 1604, 2403a, 3120, 3149, 3232; title 
21 section 379o; title 23 sections 112, 133; title 25 sections 2103, 
2104; title 30 sections 185, 226, 1147, 1292, 1419; title 33 section 
1504; title 43 sections 1331, 1344, 1751, 2005, 2006; title 45 sections 
791, 1116; title 49 sections 40128, 44715; title 50 App. sections 2095, 
2096.