Final environmental impact statement

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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will prepare a final environmental impact statement after comments are received on the draft EIS for the proposed Alaska gas pipeline project.

The final EIS will include content from the draft EIS with corrections, additions, changes and responses to public and agency comments on the draft. At a minimum, the final EIS must document how the lead agency responded to each comment. These responses can range from minor wording changes to citing which studies the agency relied on to gathering new information.

The final EIS also typically identifies the environmentally preferred alternative, which might or might not be the overall preferred alternative. An important aspect of NEPA is that it doesn't require an agency to decide in favor of the least environmentally harmful option for a project. NEPA merely requires that the agency assess the project's environmental impacts, consider alternatives that might be less harmful, including the option of rejecting the project, and disclose what it learns to the public.

Under ANGPA, FERC has six months to complete the final EIS after it publishes the draft EIS.

When the final EIS is ready, FERC will post the document in its e-library and the Environmental Protection Agency will publish a notice in the Federal Register.

We will post the final EIS on this page after FERC issues it (anticipated late spring 2014).