(a) The DEIS shall include:

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(1) A concise description of the proposal, the nature of the area affected, its uses, and any specific feature of the area that has special environmental significance;

(2) An analysis of the proposal, and reasonable alternatives exploring the important consequent advantages and/or disadvantages of the action and indicating the direct and indirect effects and their significance in terms of the short and long-term uses of the human environment.

(b) When a DEIS and supplements, if any, are prepared, the Commission shall file the Statement with the Office of Federal Activities, Environmental Protection Agency, consistent with its procedures. Public Notice of the availability of the DEIS will be published in the Federal Register by the Environmental Protection Agency.

(c) When copies or summaries of the DEIS are sent to the Environmental Protection Agency, the copies or summaries will be electronically mailed with a request for comment to Federal agencies having jurisdiction by law or special expertise, to the Council on Environmental Quality, to the applicant, to individuals, groups and state and local agencies known to have an interest in the environmental consequences of a grant, and to any other person who has requested a copy. If an interested person lacks access to electronic mail and requests a hard copy or summary of the DEIS, it must be provided by mail.

(d) Any person or agency may comment on the DEIS and the environmental effect of the proposal described therein within 45 days after notice of the availability of the statement is published in the Federal Register. A copy of those comments shall be electronically mailed to the applicant by the person who files them pursuant to § 1.47 and filed electronically with the Commission. If the interested person is unable to file electronically or mail the copy electronically, or if it would be unreasonably burdensome to do so, such person may submit the comments to the Commission and the applicant by mail, with a request for waiver under § 1.1304(b). If a person submitting comments is especially qualified in any way to comment on the environmental impact of the facilities, a statement of his or her qualifications shall be set out in the comments. In addition, comments submitted by an agency shall identify the person(s) who prepared them.

(e) The applicant may electronically file reply comments within 15 days after the time for filing comments has expired. Reply comments shall be filed with the Commission and served by the applicant on persons or agencies which filed comments.

(f) The preparation of a DEIS and the request for comments shall not open the application to attack on other grounds.

[51 FR 15000, Apr. 22, 1986, as amended at 85 FR 85531, Dec. 29, 2020]