• Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) Topics
  • About FAA Experimental Permits
  • About the NEPA Process
  • About the PEIS
  • Differences Between Licenses and Permits
  • Information Resources
  • Public Involvement

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NEPA is our national charter for protection of the environment and provides for the consideration of environmental issues in Federal agency planning and decision-making. NEPA requires that agencies prepare a detailed statement for Federal actions with the potential to significantly affect the quality of the human or natural environment. The FAA will prepare this PEIS in accordance with NEPA, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and its own implementing regulations.

There are four basic levels of environmental review and documentation used by the FAA in conducting NEPA analysis: (1) Categorical Exclusion (CATEX); (2) Written Reevaluation (WR); (3) Environmental Assessment (EA); and (4) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The proposed action and the degree of environmental impacts associated with it determine the appropriate level of environmental review. For some environmental reviews, preparation of a WR may be appropriate as defined by the FAA.

A WR will either conclude that the contents of previously prepared environmental documents remain valid or that significant changes require the preparation of a supplement to existing environmental documents or the preparation of new documents. The FAA will decide when a WR is appropriate to evaluate the continued validity of environmental documents. The preparation of a new EIS, Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) or supplement is not necessary when it can be documented that

• The proposed action conforms to plans or projects for which a prior EIS or FONSI has been filed,
• The data and analyses in the previous EIS or FONSI are still substantially valid, and
• All pertinent conditions and requirements of the prior approval have been or will be met in the current action.

Also, if a Final EIS is not submitted to the approving official within three years from the date the Draft EIS was circulated, a written reevaluation of the draft shall be prepared by or for the FAA to determine whether the consideration of alternatives, impacts, existing environment, and mitigation measures in the draft statement remain applicable, accurate and valid. The written reevaluation has no standard format and no circulation or publication requirements.

The preparation of a PEIS may be particularly useful for a large program that has many activities occurring in phases over several years in varying geographic locations. The programmatic or system-wide approach creates a comprehensive analysis for a broad plan or action that is evolving and includes a number of phases, activities, or individual actions. Programmatic analysis can save resources by providing NEPA coverage for an entire program, allowing subsequent NEPA analyses to be focused on specific activities at specific locations.