§ 6.200 General requirements.

(a) The Responsible Official must determine whether the proposed action meets the criteria for categorical exclusion or whether it requires preparation of an EA or an EIS to identify and evaluate its environmental impacts. The Responsible Official may decide to prepare an EIS without first undertaking an EA.

(b) The Responsible Official must determine the scope of the environmental review by considering the type of proposed action, the reasonable alternatives, and the type of environmental impacts. The scope of an EIS will be determined as provided in 40 CFR 1508.25.

(c) During the environmental review process, the Responsible Official must:

(1) Integrate the NEPA process and the procedures of subparts A through C of this part into early planning to ensure appropriate consideration of NEPA's policies and to minimize or eliminate delay;

(2) Emphasize cooperative consultation among federal agencies, state and local governments, and federally-recognized Indian tribes before an EA or EIS is prepared to help ensure compliance with the procedural provisions of subparts A through C of this part and with other environmental review requirements, to address the need for interagency cooperation, to identify the requirements for other agencies' reviews, and to ensure appropriate public participation.