ABSTRACT
The primary requirement in empathizing with the public is for the environmental impact statement team to feel and understand the concerns of the public in a sincere spirit. The importance of the environmental impact statement (EIS) team to identify with and understand the concerns, feelings, and motives of the public who provide comments during the scoping process and on the draft EIS cannot be overstated. The public that comments on National Environmental Policy Act documents: any citizen who feels directly or indirectly affected by the action, environmental groups and organizations, trade associations, and federal and state or local governmental agencies, other than the lead agency. The workshops can be designed to provide the public an opportunity to ask questions either on the proposed action or on the draft EIS or on the scope of the draft EIS. In any case, empathizing with the public is as important as the scheduling, costing, and the engineering design of projects.
