---
title: "NEPA detailed statement checklist"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/planning-and-environment/us-detailed-statement-checklist"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a12-us-detailed-statement-checklist"
area_id: "A12"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A12-T1-R6", "A12-B7-2"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# NEPA detailed statement checklist

> Checklist of the detailed-statement elements in 42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C), plus the integrity, data, and alternatives directions that were read. It does not decide that a statement is required.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/planning-and-environment/us-detailed-statement-checklist  
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 a detailed statement an agency has prepared. Do not use it to decide that the action is major or that it significantly affects the environment.

## 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)
- [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 checks each statutory element against the statement and does not decide the agency's duty.

**AI may:**

- List the five elements in 42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C)(i) through (v).
- Note the consultation sentence and the public-availability sentence.
- Note the integrity, data, and alternatives directions in subsections (2)(D), (2)(E), and (2)(F).

**AI must not:**

- Do not decide that a detailed statement is required.
- Do not complete subsection (2)(G). The opened text of that subsection was not finished.
- Do not apply a Council on Environmental Quality regulation. None was opened.
- Do not state a comment period.

**The lawyer checks:**

- Identify the proposal from the agency's document.
- Read the definitions of lead agency and major Federal action before using them.
- Do not treat absence of a label such as environmental impact statement as a legal conclusion.
- Keep the launch-vehicle note out of this review unless that note is read in full.

## 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-detailed-statement-checklist 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.*