---
title: "NEPA alternatives review checklist"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/planning-and-environment/us-alternatives-review"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a12-us-alternatives-review"
area_id: "A12"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A12-T1-R6"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# NEPA alternatives review checklist

> Checklist for the alternatives discussion in 42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C)(iii) and § 4332(2)(F). It reviews what the statement says. It does not choose an alternative.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/planning-and-environment/us-alternatives-review  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Practice area: [Planning & Environment](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/planning-and-environment.md)
- Jurisdictions: United States
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-22
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-22 against the authority it cites, for United States.

## When to use it

Use when a lawyer is reviewing how a detailed statement treats alternatives, including a no-action alternative. Do not use it to select the agency's alternative.

## Used for these tasks

- [Review an environmental-impact statement or equivalent effects statement](https://ailawframework.com/practice/planning-and-environment/review-an-environmental-impact-statement-or-equivalent-effects-statement.md)

## How AI may be used

Yellow: the lawyer compares the statement's alternatives discussion with the two statutory sentences and does not pick an outcome.

**AI may:**

- Set out the reasonable-range and no-action language in section 4332(2)(C)(iii).
- Set out the feasible-alternatives direction in section 4332(2)(F).
- Leave the purpose and need as a quotation from the statement.

**AI must not:**

- Do not choose the alternative the agency should adopt.
- Do not add alternatives that are not technically and economically feasible unless the commenter identifies a basis.
- Do not invent a purpose and need.
- Do not decide that the proposal significantly affects the environment.

**The lawyer checks:**

- Quote the purpose and need from the statement.
- List only alternatives the statement discusses, plus any the commenter identifies.
- Keep feasibility as a question for the lawyer, not a conclusion of this list.
- Do not import a state planning-consent test.

## Authorities

- [42 U.S.C. § 4332](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/4332)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/planning-and-environment/us-alternatives-review and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*