Definitions for "COOPERATING AGENCY"
Any federal, state, or local agency or Indian tribe with jurisdiction by law or special expertise enabling it to cooperate with the lead agency preparing an environmental impact statement under NEPA.
As defined in the Council on Environmental Quality's Regulations for implementing the Procedural Provisions of the NEPA, "any organization other than a lead agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved in…(a) major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment." The CEQ emphasizes that agency cooperation should begin early in the NEPA process.
_ A cooperating agency may be any federal agency other that the lead agency that has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to the environmental impacts expected to result from a proposal.