EA page limit and one-year deadline
The one-year clock runs from the earliest of the agency's determination that an EA is required, its notice that a right-of-way application is complete, or its notice of intent to prepare the EA[2].
Agency procedures add format rules. USDA, for example, specifies 8.5 by 11 inch pages with 12-point single-spaced text and bars appendices from carrying substantive analysis[3].
How long does an environmental assessment take?
At the Forest Service, the median EA took 441 days from the scoping notice to the signed decision notice, for decisions signed from 2005 to 2021. The middle half took 232 to 769 days, and 59% took more than a year. The median rose from 429 days in 2005 to 614 in 2020[4].
Since 2023, the law gives an EA 1 year, extended only as long as needed[2]. NEPA timelines compares EAs with CEs and EISs.
What goes in a FONSI or a mitigated FONSI
A finding of no significant impact is the agency's determination that the action does not require an EIS[5]. Under USDA's procedures it incorporates the EA by reference, names any selected alternative, explains why there is no reasonably foreseeable significant impact, states the authority for any mitigation relied on, says when implementation should begin, and is dated and signed. It may be bound with the EA[6].
When the finding depends on mitigation, it is a mitigated FONSI. At FAA, it must state the enforceable mitigation requirements or voluntary commitments that will avoid significant effects[7].
Is public comment required on an EA?
Not by NEPA itself: the statute requires a request for public comment only in an EIS notice of intent[2]. Agency procedures decide the rest.
USDA treats a Federal Register notice of intent for an EA as the exception and leaves soliciting comment to the responsible official[3]. DOE may publish a notice requesting scoping comments on an EA[8]. Forest Service projects covered by its objection rules need a legal notice of a 30-day opportunity to comment on a proposal analyzed in an EA[9].