Environmental Impact Statement Filing Guidance

Pursuant to 40 CFR 1506.9 and 1506.10, EPA is responsible for administering the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) filing process. The process of EIS filing includes:

• receiving and recording of the EIS into EPA's EIS database,
• for draft and final EISs, establishing the beginning and ending dates for comment and review periods,
• publishing the comment and review dates in a weekly Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.

How to file an EIS

Federal agencies file an EIS by submitting the complete EIS, including appendices, to EPA through the e-NEPA electronic filing system. If a federal agency files an abbreviated final EIS (as described in 40 CFR 1503.4(c)), it should include a new cover sheet on the Draft EIS when filing it as the Final EIS. 

Registration for e-NEPA is only open to government employees.

• e-NEPA Guide On Registration and Preparing an EIS for Electronic Submission (pdf) (2.06 MB, Jan. 4, 2021)
• e-NEPA electronic filing system (through Central Data Exchange (CDX))

Due to the short turnaround time for EPA to process the EIS filings for publication, federal agencies must have received all required approvals before filing on a Monday. EPA will be unable to make any changes to the Federal Register report after the 10:00 AM Monday deadline, such as withholding the EIS from publication. When Mondays are designated federal holidays, the deadline will be 10:00 AM Eastern Time of the Friday before the federal holiday until further notice.

As a reminder, the lead agency is responsible for the accessibility requirements for the PDF documents filed with the EPA, as required under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d). Visit Adobe's accessibility page for more information on how to make PDF files accessible to people with disabilities.

The entire EIS, including appendices, will need to be filed through e-NEPA electronic filing system. Ensuring that the PDF document is bookmarked and opens in bookmark view ensures confirmation of completeness. Registration is required to use the e-NEPA system and it is only open to federal government employees (unless the state government employees’ agencies have been granted NEPA authority from the appropriate federal agency).

Please note that using e-NEPA for filing does not affect agencies' responsibilities for public distribution of EISs. However, filing an EIS in e-NEPA serves as a federal agency's transmittal of an EIS to EPA. 

Questions on e-NEPA and EIS filings may be directed to [email protected]. As always, we encourage federal agencies to file EISs early to avoid issues that may arise in the filing.

The steps to follow when a federal agency is adopting an EIS, or when an EIS is withdrawn, delayed, or when extending or reopening a public comment or review period

Adopting an EIS

EPA must be notified when a federal agency adopts an EIS in order to commence the appropriate comment or review period (40 CFR 1506.9(c)). If a federal agency chooses to adopt an EIS written by another agency, and it was not a cooperating agency in the preparation of the original EIS, the EIS must be republished and filed with EPA. In turn, EPA will publish a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register announcing that the document will have an appropriate comment or review period.

When an agency adopts an EIS on which it served as a cooperating agency, the document does not need to be republished for public comment or review. It is also not necessary to file the EIS again with EPA. However, EPA should be notified in order to ensure that the official EIS record is accurate. Notifications should be submitted through e-NEPA electronic filing system (through Central Data Exchange (CDX)). EPA will publish a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register that states that an adoption has occurred. This will not establish a comment period but will complete the public record.

Extending a comment or review period

EPA requires an official notification requesting a comment or review period extension. Official notification may be a signed letter on agency letterhead by an appropriate approving official or a copy of the agency’s published Federal Register notice detailing a comment or review period extension. An email is not a sufficient official notification. Please note that comment or review period due dates cannot fall on a weekend or a federal holiday. Extension request should be submitted through e-NEPA electronic filing system (through Central Data Exchange (CDX)). 

Withdrawing, delaying, or reopening a comment or review period

EPA should also be notified of all situations where an agency has decided to withdraw, delay, extend or reopen a review period on an EIS. Notifications can be sent by email to [email protected]. Official notification may be a signed letter on agency letterhead by an appropriate approving official or a copy of the agency's published Federal Register public notice detailing a withdraw, delay or a reopening of a comment or review period. All such notices to EPA will be reflected in EPA's weekly Notice of Availability published in the Federal Register. In the case of reopening EIS review periods, the lead agency should notify EPA as to what measures will be taken to ensure that the EIS is available to all interested parties. This is especially important for EIS reviews that are being reopened after a substantial amount of time has passed since the original review period closed.

All such notifications to EPA should be on agency letterhead or should include the agency's notice published in the Federal Register.

Public review periods

The minimum time periods set forth 40 CFR 1506.10(b),(c), and (d) are calculated from the date EPA publishes the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Time periods do not end on the weekends or federal holidays and will be extended to the next working day.

• Comment periods for all draft EISs shall extend for 45 calendar days
  • unless the lead agency extends the prescribed period or a reduction of the period has been granted.
• The review periods for all final EISs shall extend for 30 calendar days
  • unless the lead agency extends the period or a reduction in the period has been granted.

A lead agency must notify EPA of an extended time period when either filing the EIS through e-NEPA or by email to [email protected].

Agencies often publish a date by which all comments on an EIS are to be received; such actions are encouraged. However, agencies should ensure that the date they use is based on the date of EPA's publication of the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.

Issuance of Notice of Availability in the Federal Register

EPA prepares a weekly report of all EISs filed during the preceding week for publication each Friday under a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. If the Friday is a federal holiday, the publication will be on Thursday. Amended notices may be added to the Notice of Availability to include:

• corrections,
• changes in time periods of previously filed EISs,
• withdrawals of EISs by lead agencies, and
• retraction of EISs by EPA.

EPA also publishes a list of those EISs received each week in EPA’s EIS Database.