Executive Order 11991—Environmental Impact Statements

RELATING TO PROTECTION AND

ENHANCEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

By virtue of the authority vested in. me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, and as President of the United States of America, in furtherance of the purpose and policy of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), and Section. 309 of the Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1857h-7), it is hereby ordered as follows:

SECTION 1. Subsection (h) of Section 3 (relating to responsibilities of the Council on Environmental Quality) of Executive Order No. 11514, as amended, is revised to read as follows:

"(h) Issue regulations to Federal agencies for the implementation of the procedural provisions of the Act (42 U.S.C. 4332(2) ). Such regulations shall be developed after consultation with affected agencies and after such public hearings as may be appropriate. They will be designed to make the environmental impact statement process more useful to decisionmakers and the public; and to reduce paperwork and the accumulation of extraneous background data, in order to emphasize the need to focus on real environmental issues and alternatives. They will require impact statements to be concise, clear, and to the point, and supported by evidence that agencies have made the necessary environmental analyses. The Council shall include in its regulations procedures (1) for the early preparation of environmental impact statements, and (2) for the referral to the Council of conflicts between agencies concerning the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and Section 309 of the Clean Air Act, as amended, for the Council's recommendation as to their prompt resolution.".

SEC. 2. The following new subsection is added to Section 2 (relating to responsibilities of Federal agencies) of Executive Order No. 11514, as amended:

"(g) In carrying out their responsibilities under the Act and this Order, comply with the regulations issued by the Council except where such compliance would be inconsistent with statutory requirements.".

JIMMY CARTER

The White House,

May 24, 1977.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 1:45 p.m., May 24, 1977]