ABSTRACT
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations (Regulations) were primarily written with the objective of specifying regulatory requirements governing preparation of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs). The focus was clearly on preparing EISs. Given this focus, only limited attention was devoted to describing regulatory requirements which also apply to the preparation of Environmental Assessments (EAs). In fact, the concept of an EA appears to have been more an afterthought than a thoroughly defined procedural mechanism. Hence a vacuum has existed with respect to determining which requirements specified in the Regulations also apply to preparation of EAs. One of the objectives of this text is to bridge this gap.
