NEPA Process and Specific Requirements - Environmental Impact Analysis: Process and Methods - page 73

conformance with the purpose and need might be that on average the pro-
jected traffic volume that could pass through each intersection without wait-
ing for more than one change of the traffic light. Potential alternatives can
then be compared with the criteria and those that meet the purpose and need
are retained for a detailed analysis in the draft EIS.
Perhaps of greater concern than semantics and distinction between the
terms purpose and need, is an ambiguous or otherwise unclear statement of
purpose and need that fails because it did not initially attract the attention
of stakeholders potentially affected. In such cases these parties would not be
aware that their interests were potentially at risk until a preferred alternative
is identified at the draft or even the final EIS stage. At this late juncture of
the process, stakeholders could identify alternatives, areas of impact, meth-
ods to be used in the environmental analysis process, or conflicting future
plans that were not addressed in the draft document. The proposing agency
would then be obligated to evaluate each of these additional areas to deter-
mine whether they had merit and if so address them in the final or a supple-
mental draft EIS. Either of these options have the potential for significant
time delays and unnecessary expenditure of funds.
Some background on why the agency is proposing to take action may in
some cases be advantageous for inclusion in the purpose and need state-
ment, but if included it must be brief and very general. There are much more
appropriate sections of an EIS to discuss the history of the problem to be
addressed by the action under consideration, including the section on exist-
ing conditions or affected environment. Lengthy discussion of the problem
to be addressed does not belong in the purpose and need section and fre-
quently detracts from a concise and easily understood statement of what
the proposing agency is attempting to accomplish. It is important to keep in
mind the objective of the purpose and need statement: establish the intended
outcome of the agency's action and use this to determine the appropriate
range of alternatives. A lengthy discussion of the problems that led to the
need for action and the history of the problems can obscure a concise state-
ment of purpose and need.

3.2.2 NEPA Compliance Related to Purpose and Need

As important as the statement of purpose and need is to stakeholder input,
technical alternative selection, and focused preparation of the analysis, in a
NEPA document the statement is often most important in relation to procedural
compliance and litigation. Under virtually any interpretation, the purpose and
need of an action determines what alternatives are appropriate for consider-
ation and which can be eliminated at the screening stage or not considered at
all. As discussed below (Section 3.7) a flawed alternative analysis is one of the
most common defects identified in NEPA case law and a cause for rejecting
an EIS. Thus the statement of purpose and need forming the basis for alterna-
tive analysis is often at the heart of NEPA litigation. There are several court