Prof. David Kovacic, Spring 2003
This site brings together digital resources designed to facilitate research on the development of environmental impact statements.
There is a vast gulf between the passage of a piece of legislation and its implementation, and the first step toward bridging that gap is the creation of regulations--the detailed instructions needed in order to implement the requirements of law.
Regulations are written by the federal departments and agencies responsible for their implementation. They are first published as proposed rules in the Federal Register. Following a period during which interested parties may recommend changes in the draft rules, they are revised, published as final rules in the Federal Register, and then incorporated in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
The CFR is the body of all federal regulations currently in force. It consists of fifty titles, each of which is written by a particular executive department or agency. Title 40, "Protection of Environment," is written by the Environmental Protection Agency. Its print version consists of twenty-four volumes, each of which is updated annually. The online version is also updated annually. Some of the most important information about EISs can be found at 40 CFR 1502 (i.e., title 40, part 1502) and following.
For more information on federal regulations, consult U.S. Legislation, Laws and Regulations, a guide to the chief regulatory and legislative online resources available to UIUC users.
Announcements regarding all draft and final EISs produced by federal agencies appear in the EPA section of each Friday's Federal Register under the heading, Notices of Availability. The EPA provides links to these notices on its web site (see Current Environmental Impact Statements). Each entry includes an EIS number, a sentence describing the project requiring the EIS, contact information, a cutoff date for public comments, instructions for accessing the document, and other information.
Often the federal agency that authors a particular EIS issues a notice of availability on its own web site. Many of these can be located through the Agency NEPA Web Sites list. These web sites sometimes include full-text EISs and may, therefore, be the most convenient source of recent EIS publications.
One may use any of three search engines or databases to search for EIS information appearing in the Federal Register.
The Federal Register Environmental Documents page includes a search engine providing keyword access to all EIS-related material printed in the Federal Register from 1994 to the present. One may also browse by date. This resource is updated daily.
The National Archives and Records Administration maintains a Federal Register web site that includes an online Federal Register search form enabling users to carry out very specific searches. To limit a search to notices, check "Notices" under "Federal Register Sections." For guidance, see Federal Register Helpful Hints.
A second Federal Register database -- available only to UIUC students, faculty, and staff -- is LexisNexis Congressional. To search the Federal Register, follow the "Regulations" link on the LexisNexis Congressional homepage. In this database, the Federal Register can be searched by keyword and Federal Register citation.
The UIUC Library owns thousands of draft and final environmental impact statements, all of which have records in the online catalog. Use the subject terms "environmental impact analysis" and "environmental impact statements" to locate EIS documents through the UIUC Online Library Catalog. The call numbers for these items are typically constructed using a class number (see table below) and a local prefix. Documents on microfiche, which use MFICHEDOC. as a prefix, may be found in the Government Documents Library. Documents in print format, which invariably use the DOC. prefix, are located on Deck 5 of the Main Stacks.
Forest Service (USDA) A13.92: Final
Forest Service (USDA) A13.92/2: Draft
Department. of Energy E1.20: Unspecified
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (DOE) E2.11: Unspecified
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (DOE) E2.11/2: Draft
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (DOE) E2.11/3: Unspecified
Environmental Protection Agency EP1.57/3: Final
Environmental Protection Agency EP1.57/4 Draft
Department of the Interior I1.98: Unspecified
Bureau of Land Management (DOI) I53.59: Unspecified
Federal Highway Administration (DOT) TD2.35: Final
Federal Railroad Administration (DOT) TD3.17: Unspecified
Federal Aviation Administration (DOT) TD4.48: Unspecified
Federal Transit Administration (DOT) TD7.15: Unspecified
University LibraryFor comments on this page contact: Government Documents Library
Last modified by: Leo Dion on 1/22/09