119 STAT. 1860
Procedures.
Notification.
VerDate 14-DEC-2004
13:51 Oct 26, 2006
PUBLIC LAW 109–59—AUG. 10, 2005
‘‘(3) FEDERAL PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—Any Federal agency that is invited by the lead agency to participate in the environmental review process for a project shall be designated as a participating agency by the lead agency unless the invited agency informs the lead agency, in writing, by the deadline specified in the invitation that the invited agency— ‘‘(A) has no jurisdiction or authority with respect to the project; ‘‘(B) has no expertise or information relevant to the project; and ‘‘(C) does not intend to submit comments on the project. ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF DESIGNATION.—Designation as a participating agency under this subsection shall not imply that the participating agency— ‘‘(A) supports a proposed project; or ‘‘(B) has any jurisdiction over, or special expertise with respect to evaluation of, the project. ‘‘(5) COOPERATING AGENCY.—A participating agency may also be designated by a lead agency as a ‘cooperating agency’ under the regulations contained in part 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations. ‘‘(6) DESIGNATIONS FOR CATEGORIES OF PROJECTS.—The Secretary may exercise the authorities granted under this subsection for a project, class of projects, or program of projects. ‘‘(7) CONCURRENT REVIEWS.—Each Federal agency shall, to the maximum extent practicable— ‘‘(A) carry out obligations of the Federal agency under other applicable law concurrently, and in conjunction, with the review required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), unless doing so would impair the ability of the Federal agency to carry out those obligations; and ‘‘(B) formulate and implement administrative, policy, and procedural mechanisms to enable the agency to ensure completion of the environmental review process in a timely, coordinated, and environmentally responsible manner. ‘‘(e) PROJECT INITIATION.—The project sponsor shall notify the Secretary of the type of work, termini, length and general location of the proposed project, together with a statement of any Federal approvals anticipated to be necessary for the proposed project, for the purpose of informing the Secretary that the environmental review process should be initiated. ‘‘(f) PURPOSE AND NEED.— ‘‘(1) PARTICIPATION.—As early as practicable during the environmental review process, the lead agency shall provide an opportunity for involvement by participating agencies and the public in defining the purpose and need for a project. ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—Following participation under paragraph (1), the lead agency shall define the project’s purpose and need for purposes of any document which the lead agency is responsible for preparing for the project. ‘‘(3) OBJECTIVES.—The statement of purpose and need shall include a clear statement of the objectives that the proposed action is intended to achieve, which may include— ‘‘(A) achieving a transportation objective identified in an applicable statewide or metropolitan transportation plan;
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