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Defining the Full Scope of the Federal "Action"

Segmentation:

The scope of the federal action, consisting of directly related federal and non-federal actions, must be clearly defined PRIOR to determining the level of documentation to ensure that all connected actions have been considered.
NEPA requires that the sum of related components making up a "larger" action be evaluated in one document.
It is unacceptable to divide a large action into a series of smaller actions or to not consider the proposed action in context with other actions taking place. These are often called connected actions.

Actions are connected when:

One action justifies the other
One action "federalizes" the other
It is unreasonable or unwise to take one action without the other
One action triggers the other
One action is a commitment to the other
One action precludes alternatives to the other

Actions are not connected when:

One action is remote and speculative
The "federal connection" is minor
The actions are tiered - the second action is later in time or may not occur, and can be changed in the interim

Last Modified: Wednesday, 11-Aug-2010 14:13:46 EDT

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Defining the Full Scope of the Federal "Action"