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AI tools for NEPA review, compared

AI tools for NEPA are still few. PNNL's DOE-funded PermitAI offers search, comment and drafting tools, several in beta for federal users[1][2]; NEPATEC is PNNL's open dataset of NEPA documents[3]. Radial Spatial's NEPA AI predicts review pathways from location[4]. Transect screens sites[5]; PermitFlow handles construction permits[6]. ePlan drafts scoping letters, CE memos and EAs.

By Ilya Volodarsky. 9 sources, each read on . This page explains the law; it is not legal advice.

Draft NEPA Documents for Road Repair

    ePlan gets you

    • A first draft of your NEPA Document, from a project description or the files you already have
    • Precedent research: analog projects and their documents, found for you
    • Every fact ePlan can't confirm, marked for your team to fill in
    • A Word download, plus tasks and a Gantt timeline on Pro and Max
    See how it compares

    Describe a project and ePlan drafts the document it needs from a reference document, with every unconfirmed fact marked for you.

    ePlan vs. by hand

    How ePlan compares to drafting a NEPA Document by hand

    The same document, two ways to a first draft.

    ComparedePlan.aiBy hand
    Starting pointePlan.aiA plain-language project description, or the PDFs, Word files and GIS files (shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, GeoPackage) you already haveBy handA blank template, or last year's document retyped
    Precedent researchePlan.aiA research agent searches agency project pages, CEQAnet, the Federal Register, eCFR and EPA's EIS database for your project and up to two analog projectsBy handSearching each agency site and PDF library by hand
    Missing factsePlan.aiEvery fact ePlan can't confirm stays a highlighted [INSERT] placeholder until someone fills itBy handGaps surface in review, or not at all
    Cost to startePlan.aiScoping letters are free. EAs, EIRs and decision memos are on Max at $199 a monthBy handStaff or consultant hours for every draft

    ePlan.ai as of October 2026. “By hand” means a Word template, past documents and agency PDFs. Your team reviews, edits and signs every draft.

    At a glance

    The tools side by side

    • PermitAI

      Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, funded by DOE

      Who it's for
      Local, state and federal agencies[1]
      What it does
      A data platform and AI tools for environmental review: SearchNEPA (search and questions over NEPA documents), CommentNEPA (public comment processing), WriteNEPA (drafting help for EIS and EA content) and PermitCE (guided CE evaluations)[2]
      NEPA documents
      Works with EISs, EAs and CEs, including past reviews[1]
      Availability and price
      SearchNEPA and CommentNEPA are in beta for federal government users; no public price found[2]

    • NEPATEC

      Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

      Who it's for
      Anyone building or studying NEPA tools; it is a dataset
      What it does
      Version 2.0 holds more than 120,000 documents from 60,000 projects prepared by more than 60 agencies[3]
      NEPA documents
      CE, EA and EIS documents[3]
      Availability and price
      Free, released under a CC0 public domain dedication[3]

    • NEPA AI

      Radial Spatial Ltd.

      Who it's for
      NEPA professionals[4]
      What it does
      Predicts the likely level of NEPA review, mitigation and permitting costs from a project's location, using geospatial data and past CATEX, EA and EIS documents[4][7]
      NEPA documents
      Predicts the review pathway; drafting documents is not described on the pages we read
      Availability and price
      The vendor's page describes it in future tense and links to a web app; no public price found[4]

    • Transect

      Transect

      Who it's for
      Solar, storage, wind, data center, EPC, utility, environmental consulting and midstream teams[5]
      What it does
      Site assessment with expert-curated environmental, permitting and community sentiment data, including site-specific, NEPA-focused data, regulations and permits[5][8]
      NEPA documents
      Drafting NEPA documents is not described on the pages we read
      Availability and price
      Demo and a free mini-report on request; no public price found[5]

    • PermitFlow

      PermitFlow

      Who it's for
      Home services and commercial contractors, home builders, developers and architects[6]
      What it does
      An AI pre-construction platform for construction permitting[6]
      NEPA documents
      None described; it targets building and construction permits
      Availability and price
      Demo on request; no public price found[6]

    • ePlan

      ePlan.ai

      Who it's for
      Agency NEPA staff, consultants and applicants
      What it does
      Drafts NEPA documents from a reference document, marking every fact it could not confirm, in a project workspace with research, tasks, maps and comments
      NEPA documents
      Scoping letters, CE decision memos and EAs
      Availability and price
      Starter is free with 3 seats. Pro is $99 a month with 5 seats. Max is $199 a month with 10 seats. Extra seats on Pro and Max are $29 a month each.

    PermitAI and NEPATEC

    PNNL describes PermitAI as a one-stop data platform and suite of AI tools to streamline reviews for critical federal infrastructure, funded by DOE's Office of Policy and Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation[1]. SearchNEPA launched in late 2024 and is in beta testing with more than 500 users across federal agencies[2].

    NEPATEC, the NEPA text corpus behind it, is open. Version 1.0 was published under the PolicyAI name and held 28,212 documents from 2,917 projects[9].

    Radial Spatial NEPA AI

    Radial Spatial, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, says NEPA AI cross-references past CATEX, EA and EIS documents from the same watershed to predict NEPA pathways, mitigation requirements and permitting costs[4]. Esri lists it as a partner solution[7].

    Outline

    Questions to ask any NEPA AI tool

    Use these on every tool above, ePlan included. Filed EISs are public in EPA's EIS database, and NEPA examples shows where agencies post EAs and CE records.

    1. Which documents does it produce?

      Search results and summaries, or a draft CE record, EA or scoping letter you can edit?

    2. Who can use it today?

      Federal beta users only, or anyone who signs up?

    3. Can you check its sources?

      Does each statement link to the regulation, record or data it came from?

    4. Is it current?

      Does it follow the 2023 amendments and your agency's procedures rather than CEQ's removed regulations?

    5. Where does your data go?

      Who can see your uploads and drafts?

    6. What does it cost?

      Per seat, per project, or a contract?

    Sources

    Where each statement comes from

    Each source was read on October 2, 2026.

    Show all 9 sources
    1. [1]PermitAI. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
    2. [2]AI Applications (PermitAI). Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
    3. [3]National Environmental Policy Act Text Corpus (NEPATEC2.0) dataset card. Hugging Face (PNNL).
    4. [4]NEPA AI. Radial Spatial Ltd..
    5. [5]Environmental Risk & Renewable Site Assessment Platform. Transect.
    6. [6]PermitFlow | Construction Permitting Software. PermitFlow.
    7. [7]NEPA AI by Radial Spatial ltd (Esri Partner Solution). Esri.
    8. [8]NEPA: Understanding Environmental Impact Assessments. Transect.
    9. [9]PolicyAI/NEPATEC1.0 dataset card. Hugging Face.

    Written by

    Ilya Volodarsky

    Ilya Volodarsky founded ePlan.ai. He co-founded Segment and is co-founder and CEO of Wildfires.org.

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    • A PNNL platform of AI tools for federal environmental review, funded by DOE. Its SearchNEPA and CommentNEPA tools are in beta for federal government users.

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