The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 requires every agency responsible for a project funded with Federal funds to create an assessment of the project's potential impact on the environment. The agency that produces the environmental impact statement (EIS) is also required to hold public hearings and submit a draft of the EIS for public review and cannot proceed with the project until a final version of the EIS is put together. However, final EIS do not supersede draft EIS because the final version will often cite information in the draft without actually including it. Comparison of final versions to drafts is also often important for litigation.
The EPA Office of Compliance and Enforcement is responsible for filing environmental impact statements for Federal departments. This agency's website has links to EIS information including current (1995 to present) EIS documents for review. Announcements of environmental impact statements are also published in the Federal Register from 1994 to the present and are browsable by year.
Finding Environmental Impact Statements
Environmental impact statements owned by the University of Cincinnati Libraries can be found be doing a keyword search in the online catalog. Use the terms: “environmental impact statement” or “eis”. You may narrow your search by adding a place or state name.
University of Cincinnati Libraries also has access to several databases that can help identify environmental impact statements:
