Rocky Mountain Region

How to Comment on NEPA Projects

The Forest Service routinely requests public comment on its projects proposals both when a project is initially proposed (scoping) and when an environmental assessment (EA) or a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) is published. These documents contain standard wording about "agency and commenter" responsibilities. Comment form and content explanations follow:

Ways to send comments:

To comment, it's best to use the postal service with a legible name and postal address (not e-mail). E-mail cannot be guaranteed as to receipt, which presents problems concerning our National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance and your assurance that we consider your input. If you provide e-mail comments, please be aware of this limitation. We will accept and acknowledge e-mail, but for you to receive correspondence about a project and have legal standing to appeal a decision, we must have your name and postal address.

Comment content:

Different land management views mean people may disagree with the present legal mandate under which the Forest Service operates. Comments along those lines certainly tell us how you feel about the Forest Service and its mission, but they do not help us perform an effective NEPA analysis that results in a reasonable and considered decision.

In response to scoping statements, we need comments that will help us formulate specific alternatives to the proposed action and perform analysis that is meaningful to both the decision maker and the public. When you submit your comments during scoping, give us your concerns about the project in general and any specific ideas or information you'd like us to consider. When we review comments on a project, we determine the issues and concerns relative to a proposed action. Significant issues are then addressed by formulating alternatives to the proposed action.

Many times, people provide comments on the basis of some source other than the scoping statement we issue. We encourage you to obtain original scoping statements from us so you can review the proposed action first-hand. Sufficient information should be provided in the scoping statement for you to be able to provide the kind of comments that we need. If not, the name of a contact person is always provided so you can find out more. We also encourage you to ask any questions prior to submitting any input.

In response to published environmental documents, either draft EISs or EAs, we need comments on the proposed action, the merits of the alternatives, and the adequacy of the analysis displayed. Such comments should be as specific as possible, allowing the interdisciplinary team to address or respond to the need effectively and efficiently. It is also appropriate to point out factual errors, methodological errors, or discussions which are unclear to the reader. Our objective is to produce a logical document that links problems to possible solutions and clearly discloses possible environmental effects, thus providing a basis for good decision making.

All Forest Service proposed actions and environmental documents comment invitations include the following:

Comments received in response to a solicitation for information, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposed action and will be available for public inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered; however, those who only submit anonymous comments will not have standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR Part 215. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request the agency to withhold a submission from the public record by showing how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality. Persons requesting such confidentiality should be aware that, under the FOIA, confidentiality may be granted in only very limited circumstances, such as to protect trade secrets. The Forest Service will inform the requester of the agency's decision regarding the request for confidentiality, and where the request is denied, the agency will return the submission and notify the requester that the comments may be resubmitted with or without name and address within a specified time period.

We want your ideas and comments on all our NEPA projects.

Do you have additional questions about NEPA work in the Rocky Mountain Region? 

Please contact: 

U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region
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Last modified May 08, 2008