Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Worst-case analysis
open-in-new
<h2 id="synopsis">Synopsis</h2> <p>The regulation requires an agency to make known when it is confronted with gaps in relevant information or scientific uncertainty.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> The agency then must determine if the missing information is essential to a reasoned choice among the alternatives. When the missing information is material to the decision an agency ordinarily must obtain the information and include it in an <a href="/facts/Environmental_impact_statement/hDJr8Fu9">environmental impact statement</a> (EIS).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> If the means for obtaining the missing information are beyond the state of the art or alternatively if the costs of obtaining it are exorbitant the agency must then prepare a worst-case analysis.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> In this analysis the agency must weigh the need for the action against the risks and in the face of uncertainty. The agency also is to indicate the probability or improbability of the worst case's occurrence.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <p> This article incorporates <a href="/facts/Copyright_status_of_works_by_the_federal_government_of_the_United_States/Q1jvr96g">public domain material</a> from websites or documents of the <a href="/facts/United_States_government/VJCxUaf7">United States government</a>. </p> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>40 CFR 1502.22 <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>NEPA 42 USC 4321 et seq (1976) <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Northwest Area Noxious Weed Control Program: Environmental Impact Statement". United States. Bureau of Land Management. December 1985. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=XwIyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA134" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=XwIyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA134</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>40 CFR 1502.22 <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>40 CFR 1502.22 <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>40 CFR 1502.22 <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Northwest Area Noxious Weed Control Program: Environmental Impact Statement". United States. Bureau of Land Management. December 1985. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=XwIyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA134" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=XwIyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA134</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>