---
title: "NEPA comment record checklist"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/planning-and-environment/us-comment-record"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a12-us-comment-record"
area_id: "A12"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A12-T1-R15", "A12-B7-2"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# NEPA comment record checklist

> Checklist of what a public comment file should identify before a letter under 42 U.S.C. § 4332 is sent. The agency's notice supplies the deadline and the address.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/planning-and-environment/us-comment-record  
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 assembling a comment on a detailed statement before it is sent. Do not use it as the comment letter or as a filing in a court.

## Used for these tasks

- [Draft an objection or public submission on a development application](https://ailawframework.com/practice/planning-and-environment/draft-an-objection-or-public-submission-on-a-development-application.md)
- [Build a submissions summary for a contested development application](https://ailawframework.com/practice/planning-and-environment/build-a-submissions-summary-for-a-contested-development-application.md)

## How AI may be used

Yellow: the lawyer completes the file from the agency's notice and the commenter's documents.

**AI may:**

- List the proposal, the statement, the notice, and the element each comment addresses.
- Leave the deadline and the address blank until the notice provides them.
- Record which agency comments the commenter has actually seen.

**AI must not:**

- Do not send the comment.
- Do not state a comment period that is not in the agency's notice.
- Do not assert that the statement was or was not made available under 5 U.S.C. § 552.
- Do not prepare a court affidavit.

**The lawyer checks:**

- Match the docket number and the deadline to the notice.
- Attach only documents the commenter has.
- Confirm the letter stays a public comment and not a sworn statement.
- Do not treat a state development application as this federal statement.

## 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-comment-record 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.*