the NEPA process

The National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") is a Federal law that serves as the Nation's basic charter for making major Federal decisions and how those decisions affect the human environment. It requires that all Federal agencies consider the potential environmental impacts of their proposed actions. NEPA promotes better agency decision-making by ensuring that high quality environmental information is available to agency officials and the public before the agency decides whether and how to undertake a major Federal action.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for ensuring NEPA compliance during the HCP process. Under NEPA, the Service involves the public in the decision making process by holding public meetings and open comment periods during the process. Through the NEPA process, you have an opportunity to learn about the Service's proposed actions and to provide timely information and comments to the Service.

• USFWS brochure about the SEP-HCP NEPA process

environmental impact statements

An Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") is a formal analytical and legal document which, with the associated procedural requirements, is intended to enhance the quality of major decisions made by Federal agencies. The core content of an EIS includes a robust description and evaluation of the implementation effects of a proposed action and a range of reasonable alternatives. With respect to an HCP, the scope of the EIS analysis covers the direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of the proposed incidental take and the proposed mitigation and minimization measures.

The NEPA scoping meetings are intended to give the public input on the range of issues and alternatives to consider in the EIS.