Environmental Compliance

Defining Purpose and Need

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations provide guidance in defining purpose and need for environmental documentation. For an environmental impact statement (EIS), " The statement shall briefly specify the underlying purpose and need to which the agency is responding in proposing the alternatives including the proposed action" (40 CFR  1502.13). An environmental assessment (EA) "shall include brief discussions of the need for the proposal, . . ." (40 CFR  1508.9).

Purpose is usually defined as an "objective" or "goal," whereas need is defined as a "requirement." This implies that the purpose and need section (as stipulated in 40 CFR  1502.10) of an EIS should explain briefly the requirement as well as the objective of a proposed action and alternatives. The CEQ NEPA regulations are less precise regarding EA's and do not stipulate format, although they state that EA's must contain a brief discussion of the requirement for a proposal (although the specific objective of the proposal is often included within the EA's discussions).

The CEQ intends that purpose and need statements be understandable, direct, and concise. This concept is not clearly understood, has been subject to much interpretation, and has become an issue in the preparation of environmental documents. Opposing perspectives include using the purpose and need section of an EIS to present detailed information which justifies either the proposed action or the need to prepare an EIS, or providing such a brief statement of purpose and need that the actual need for an action is obscured. Brevity is very important, but purpose and need statements must convey to the reader enough information so that the reader understands why the action is being proposed.

The framing of purpose and need statements is a very important part of the preparation of environmental documents, in that the purpose and need for a proposed action is crucial in determining the range of alternatives that will be considered. If the purpose and need is narrowly defined, the range of alternatives can be very narrow. A narrow definition therefore can minimize work and discussion in documents, and provide a focus on the principle issues. However, too narrow of a purpose and need can result in an agency overlooking other approaches that can be effective in helping it meet objectives or that may have less impact on the environment. A narrow purpose and need also may be subject to severe criticism from the public and result in complaints that the decision process was prejudiced from the onset.