§1b.7. Environmental impact statements. — Inbound Citations

(B) if the proposed action is likely to have reasonably foreseeable significant impacts, develop an environmental impact statement, as described in § 1b.7.

(ii) If updates substantially change the major Federal action or substantially alter or add disclosure of significant adverse impacts, the USDA subcomponent should not continue implementing those portions of the action that are changing or that have been materially affected by new circumstances or information unless the subcomponent invokes an emergency authority, as identified in paragraph (v) of this section, or a NEPA exemption. The USDA subcomponent shall prepare a supplemental EIS in accordance with § 1b.7.

(ii) When serving as the lead agency, the USDA subcomponent will fulfill the role of lead agency as outlined in NEPA section 107(a)(2) and determine the scope of the analysis for the proposal in accordance with sections 1b.5(b) and 1b.7(g) and document the scope of the project at hand.

(a) Upon completing the environmental impact statement, at the time of its decision a USDA subcomponent, if the lead agency, shall prepare and publish a record of decision or joint record of decision. When it will not prevent the USDA subcomponent from meeting the deadline in § 1b.7(k), the record of decision may be prepared in conjunction with the environmental impact statement and included in the same document and will not count towards the page limits in § 1b.7(i). When including the record of decision in the environmental impact statement (EIS), the EIS cover page should be updated to reflect the document also includes the record of decision.

(a) Upon completing the environmental impact statement, at the time of its decision a USDA subcomponent, if the lead agency, shall prepare and publish a record of decision or joint record of decision. When it will not prevent the USDA subcomponent from meeting the deadline in § 1b.7(k), the record of decision may be prepared in conjunction with the environmental impact statement and included in the same document and will not count towards the page limits in § 1b.7(i). When including the record of decision in the environmental impact statement (EIS), the EIS cover page should be updated to reflect the document also includes the record of decision.

(7) The USDA subcomponent will work with the applicant to develop a schedule for preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement. Major changes to the schedule or related matters will be documented through written correspondence in accordance with § 1b.5(g) and § 1b.7(l)(1).