§ 230.17 Filing requirements.

Five copies of draft, final and supplement EISs should be sent to: Director, Office of Federal Activities (A–104), Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW., Washington, DC 20460. District commanders should file draft EISs and draft supplements directly with EPA. Final EISs and final supplements should be filed by appropriate elements within HQUSACE for feasibility and reevaluation reports requiring Congressional authorization. Division commanders should file final EISs and final supplements for all other Corps actions except for final EISs or final supplements for permit actions which should be filed by the district commander after appropriate reviews by division and the incorporation of division's comments in the EIS. HQUSACE and/or division will notify field office counterparts when to circulate the final EIS or final supplement and will file the final document with EPA after notified that distribution of the document has been accomplished.

(a) Timing requirements. Specific timing requirements regarding the filing of EISs with EPA are discussed in 40 CFR 1506.10. District commanders will forward any expedited filing requests with appropriate supporting information through channels to CECW-RE. Once a decision is reached to prepare an EIS or supplement, district commanders will establish a time schedule for each step of the process based upon considerations listed in 40 CFR 1501.8 and upon other management considerations. The time required from the decision to prepare an EIS to filing the final EIS normally should not exceed one year (46 FR 18037, March 23, 1981). For feasibility, continuing authority, or reevaluation studies, where the project's study time is expected to exceed 12 months, the timing of the EIS should be commensurate with the study time. In appropriate circumstances where the costs of completing studies or acquiring information for an EIS (i.e., cost in terms of money, time, or other resources) would be exorbitant, the district commander should consider using the mechanism described in 40 CFR 1502.22, as amended. In all cases, however, it is the district commander's responsibility to assure that the time-limit established for the preparation of an EIS or supplement is consistent with the purposes of NEPA.

(b) Timing requirements on supplements. Minimum review periods will be observed for draft and final supplements covering actions not having a bearing on the overall project for which a final EIS has been filed. Such supplements should not curtail other ongoing or scheduled actions on the overall project which have already complied with the procedural requirements of NEPA.