[Title 40 CFR 1500.1]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - July 1, 1996 Edition]
[Title 40 - PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT]
[Chapter V - COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY]
[Part 1500 - PURPOSE, POLICY, AND MANDATE]
[Sec. 1500.1 - Purpose.]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




  40
  PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
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  1996-07-01
  1996-07-01
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  1500.1
  Sec. 1500.1
  
    PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
    COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
    PURPOSE, POLICY, AND MANDATE
  


Sec. 1500.1  Purpose.

    (a) The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is our basic 
national charter for protection of the environment. It establishes 
policy, sets goals (section 101), and provides means (section 102) for 
carrying out the policy. Section 102(2) contains ``action-forcing'' 
provisions to make sure that federal agencies act according to the 
letter and spirit of the Act. The regulations that follow implement 
section 102(2). Their purpose is to tell federal agencies what they must 
do to comply with the procedures and achieve the goals of the Act. The 
President, the federal agencies, and the courts share responsibility for 
enforcing the Act so as to achieve the substantive requirements of 
section 101.
    (b) NEPA procedures must insure that environmental information is 
available to public officials and citizens before decisions are made and 
before actions are taken. The information must be of high quality. 
Accurate scientific analysis, expert agency comments, and public 
scrutiny are essential to implementing NEPA. Most important, NEPA 
documents must concentrate on the issues that are truly significant to 
the action in question, rather than amassing needless detail.
    (c) Ultimately, of course, it is not better documents but better 
decisions that count. NEPA's purpose is not to generate paperwork--even 
excellent paperwork--but to foster excellent action. The NEPA process is 
intended to help public officials make decisions that are based on 
understanding of environmental consequences, and take actions that 
protect, restore, and enhance the environment. These regulations provide 
the direction to achieve this purpose.