, 3. d 14 Publication and Circulation of Statements. Section 10 of the CEQ guidelines emphasizes the importance of preparing and circulating draft statements "early enough in the agency review process before an action is taken in order to permit a meaningful consideration of the environmental issues involved. The Council has. recently receivedcomplaints from a number of_agencies, as well as from-members of the public, that the minimum. periods established for comment and . advance availability of statements are being unduly shortened by the delay in actual receipt’ . of the statement. Confusion appears to have developed over whether the time periods are to run from the date _the agency mails the statement, _ sole ee LR __=(ox from the @ate,the statement is.xéceived by2-2 the:commentingagtoupe= - om ne = Ee <==, accordance:“eith:“10. 0(by-“BEthe CEO“guider ines;po the Council's policy has been to calculate the ' time periods from the date the statement is received at the Council on Environmental Quality. This date will appear in the Council's weekly publication in the Federal Register of statements received during the past week as well as in the ., ‘ . oo. “monthly 102 -Mornitor: In ‘order -£0_ fo. avoid:‘future 7 confusion on this issue, agencies ‘should ensure that their practices in calculating the minimum time periods reflect this policy. In many cases, of course, a time lag will still occur between the date of receipt of a statement by the Council and the date of receipt by other 3 ; oy agencies or members of the public. To some extent, the problems created by this delay can be avoided by adoption of the early notice -device described in Recommendation #5, supra: such a device would enable potential commenting entities to request direct notification as soon as the draft statement is available. In large measure, though, the problem of providing "timely public information," see Executive Order 11514, §2(b), requires agency initiative in publicizing the fact that a draft statement is available