Title I of the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires that all Federal agencies prepare detailed environmental impact statements for "every recommendation or report on proposals for legislation and other major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.
The 1969 statute stipulated the factors to be considered in environmental impact statements, and required that Federal agencies employ an interdisciplinary approach in related decision-making and develop means to ensure that unquantified environmental values are given appropriate consideration, along with economic and technical considerations.
Title II of this statute requires annual reports on environmental quality from the President to the Congress, and established a Council on Environmental Quality in the Executive Office of the President with specific duties and functions.
Amendments enacted in 1975 authorized additional appropriations for the Council on Environmental Quality (P.L. 94-52) and contained various administrative provisions.
Public Law 94-83 clarified the application of NEPA to the preparation of impact statements for projects implemented by States under a system of Federal grants.