Editing Environmental impact statement (section)

==Layout==
An EIS typically has four sections:<ref>Eccleston, Charles H. (2014). The EIS Book: Managing and Preparing Environmental Impact Statements. Chapter 6. CRC Press. {{ISBN|978-1466583634}}.</ref>
:* An Introduction including a statement of the '''Purpose and Need''' of the '''Proposed Action'''.
:* A description of the '''Affected Environment'''.
:* A '''Range of Alternatives''' to the proposed action.  Alternatives are considered the "heart" of the EIS.
:* An '''analysis''' of the environmental impacts of each of the possible alternatives.  This section covers topics such as:
::* Impacts to '''[[threatened species|threatened]] or [[endangered species]]'''
::* '''[[air quality|Air]] and [[water quality]]''' impacts
::* Impacts to '''[[historic site|historic]] and [[cultural site]]s''', particularly sites of significant importance to [[indigenous peoples]]. 
::* '''Social and [[economic impact]]s''' to local communities, often including consideration of attributes such as '''impacts on the available housing stock, economic impacts to businesses, [[property value]]s, public health, aesthetics and [[environmental noise|noise]]''' within the affected area
::* '''[[cost analysis|Cost]] and Schedule Analyses''' for each alternative, including costs and timeline to mitigate expected impacts, to determine if the proposed action can be completed at an acceptable cost and within a reasonable amount of time 
While not required in the EIS, the following subjects may be included as part of the EIS or as separate documents based on agency policy.
:* '''Financial Plan''' for the proposed action identifying the sources of secured funding for the action.  For example, the Federal Highway Administration has started requiring states to include a financial plan showing that funding has been secured for major highway projects before it will approve an EIS and issue a Record of Decision.
:* An '''[[Environmental mitigation]] plan''' is often requested by the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) if substantial environmental impacts are expected from the preferred alternative.
:* '''Additional documentation''' to comply with state and local [[environmental policy]] laws and secure required federal, state, and local permits before the action can proceed.

Every EIS is required to analyze a '''No Action Alternative''', in addition to the range of alternatives presented for study.  The No Action Alternative identifies the expected environmental impacts in the future if existing conditions were left as is with no action taken by the lead agency.  Analysis of the No Action Alternative is used to establish a baseline upon which to compare the proposed "Action" alternatives.  Contrary to popular belief, the "No Action Alternative" doesn't necessarily mean that nothing will occur if that option is selected in the Record of Decision.  For example, the "No Action Alternative" was selected for the I-69/Trans-Texas Corridor Tier-I Environmental Impact Statement.  In that Record of Decision, the Texas Department of Transportation opted not to proceed with building its portion of I-69 as one of the Trans-Texas Corridors to be built as a new-terrain route (the Trans-Texas Corridor concept was ultimately scrapped entirely), but instead decided to proceed with converting existing US and state routes to I-69 by upgrading those roads to interstate standards.