Purpose. The Notice of Intent (NOI) notifies the public that an EIS will be prepared and considered (40 CFR ' 1508.22). This determination may be based on information contained in an EA or on other available information which indicates that potentially significant effects may be associated with a proposed action.

Responsibilities. When an environmental assessment indicates that a significant environmental impact may occur and significant adverse impacts can not be eliminated by making changes in the project, an NOI shall be published in the Federal Register as soon as practicable after the responsible official has made a decision to prepare an EIS and before the scoping process. When the responsible official finds that there will be a lengthy period between the decision to prepare an EIS and the time of actual preparation, the NOI may be published at a reasonable time in advance of preparation of the draft EIS.

Contents. As required by 40 CFR ' 1508.22, the NOI will:

1. Describe the proposed action and possible alternatives;

2. Describe the proposed scoping process, which may include a request for information or suggestions regarding the scope of the EIS;

3. State whether a public scoping meeting will be held, and the location, date, and time of such meeting; and

4. State the identification of persons within the HHS organization to contact for information about the proposed action and the EIS

Scoping. Publication of the NOI in the Federal Register begins the scoping process. Scoping is an early and open process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed and for identifying the significant issues related to a proposed action (40 CFR 1501.7). The scoping process for an EIS shall be undertaken in accordance with the procedures in 40 CFR 1501.7. An NOI shall be made available to the public in accordance with 40 CFR 1500.6 and 1506.6. OPDIVs/STAFFDIVs shall allow a minimum of 30 days for the receipt of public comments during the scoping process.

Public Scoping Meetings. A public scoping meeting normally will be conducted whenever an NOI has been published, except that a public scoping process is optional for supplemental EISs (40 CFR 1502.9(c)(4)). Public scoping meetings shall not be held until at least 15 days after public notification. 40 CFR 1506.6(c)(2).

Scoping Issues. Pollution prevention should be considered an issue in the scoping process because it will encourage those outside the HHS organization to provide insights into pollution prevention technologies that might be available for use in connection with the proposal or its possible alternatives.