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EIS Cost Estimator Calculator

Estimate Environmental Impact Statement costs under NEPA based on project scale, resource areas, alternatives, public controversy, and agency review cycles.

Inputs

Results

Total EIS cost ($)

$2,094,000.00

≈ 5 average U.S. homes

Resource analysis cost ($)$544,000.00
Public involvement cost ($)$150,000.00
Agency review cost ($)$200,000.00
Legal review cost ($)$0.00
Estimated timeline (months)39
Estimated staff hours11,966
Cost per page ($)$3,490.00
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Select Project Scale (1 = local/small, 2 = regional, 3 = large/national).
  2. Enter the number of Resource Areas to analyze (air, water, wildlife, cultural, etc.).
  3. Set Alternatives to Evaluate and Public Controversy Level (1-3).
  4. Input Agency Review Cycles and toggle Litigation Risk.
  5. Review Total EIS Cost ($) to build the budget for the NEPA environmental review process.

How the result changes with Resource areas to analyze

Resource areas to analyzeTotal EIS cost ($)
2.9$1,754,000.00
7.65$2,094,000.00
13$2,434,000.00
18$2,774,000.00

What each input means

Project scale (1-3)
1 = Small (road widening), 2 = Medium (pipeline), 3 = Large (dam, airport, energy plant).
Resource areas to analyze
Number of environmental topics: air quality, water, biology, cultural resources, noise, etc.
Alternatives to evaluate
Number of project alternatives including no-action (NEPA requires at least 2).
Public controversy level (1-3)
1 = Low, 2 = Moderate, 3 = High (drives public involvement costs).
Agency review cycles
Expected rounds of agency review and document revision.
Litigation risk (0/1)
Set to 1 if project faces significant legal challenge risk.

What each result means

Total EIS cost ($)
Total estimated cost to prepare the Environmental Impact Statement.
Resource analysis cost ($)
Technical studies across all resource areas and alternatives.
Public involvement cost ($)
Scoping meetings, public hearings, comment response.
Agency review cost ($)
Cost of document revisions per agency review cycle.
Legal review cost ($)
Additional legal defensibility review if litigation risk is high.
Estimated timeline (months)
Expected duration from scoping to Record of Decision.
Estimated staff hours
Total professional hours at blended consultant rate.
Cost per page ($)
Average cost per page of final EIS document.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Project scale (1-3) = 2, Resource areas to analyze = 8, Alternatives to evaluate = 3, Public controversy level (1-3) = 2 = 6 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Total EIS cost
    Total EIS cost = baseCost + resourceCost * altMultiplier + publicCost + reviewCost + legalCost
    2094000 = $2,094,000
  3. Calculate Resource analysis cost
    Resource analysis cost = resourceAreas * perResourceCost
    544000 = $544,000
  4. Calculate Public involvement cost
    150000 = $150,000

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