An EIS serves as an information document for government decisionmakers and the public. The EIS describes the proposed activity and the natural and human environments, presents an analysis of potential adverse effects on these environments, describes potential mitigation measures to reduce adverse environmental effects, describes alternatives to the proposal, and presents a record of consultation and coordination with others during EIS preparation. The following text briefly describes the EIS process. The first step of the analysis is the identification of significant environmental and socioeconomic resources through the scoping process. Scoping begins before any analysis of impacts is done, and it continues until the EIS is finished.
Public participation is an integral part of scoping.
The first scoping step is to announce to the public, by a Federal Register notice and press release, that an EIS will be prepared and to ask for comments about what should be included. Typically, the lead Federal agency holds one or more public meetings in communities that might be affected by the proposed activities. The scoping comments assist in determining the breadth and depth of the analysis. An important objective of scoping is to identify specific elements of the environment that might be affected if the proposal is carried out. Based on the information received during the initial scoping effort and other information, such as the location of sensitive natural resources, estimates of oil and gas resources, or projected oil and gas activity, alternatives to the proposal are identified that might reduce possible impacts.