§1507.3. Definitions. — Inbound Citations

(iii) For each action meeting the criteria of this section the responsible action officer shall prepare an environmental assessment (see §§ 1501.3 and 1508.9 of the CEQ Regulations) and, on the basis of that assessment, determine if an EIS is required. If the determination is that no environmental impact statement is required, the responsible action officer shall, in coordination with the Office of Environmental Quality and Transboundary Issues, prepare a “Finding of no significant impact” (see §§ 1501.4 and 1508.13 of the CEQ Regulations). The “Finding of no significant impact” shall be made available to the public through direct distribution and publication in the Federal Register. If the determination is that an environmental impact statement is required, the official shall proceed with the “Notice of intent” to prepare an EIS and the subsequent steps in the preparation and release of an EIS in accordance with the CEQ Regulations (§§ 1501.7, 1507.3 and 1508.22) and these regulations.

These Departmental regulations are designed to supplement the CEQ Regulations and provide for the implementation of those provisions identified in § 1507.3(b) of the CEQ Regulations. The CEQ Regulations are incorporated herein by reference. The Department's regulations seek to assure that environmental considerations and values are incorporated into the Department's decisionmaking process and assign responsibility within the Department for assessing the significant environmental effects in the United States of the Department's actions.

(1) Most Departmental environmental documents will not normally contain classified or administratively controlled material (see § 1507.3(c) of the CEQ Regulations); in some cases, however, an environmental document must include such material to evaluate adequately environmental effects. In such cases Departmental environmental documents, or portions thereof, may be classified. Such material should, if possible, be confined to a classified annex of the environmental document. Approval for classification must be granted with the concurrence of the Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and the Office of the Legal Adviser, and the assistant secretary of the bureau with the action responsibility for the proposed action. In these cases, Departmental environmental documents or portions thereof may be classified in accordance with the criteria set forth in Executive Order 12065, dated December 1, 1978. Handling and disclosure of classified or administratively controlled material shall be governed by 22 CFR part 9. The portions of an environmental document which are not classified or administratively controlled will be made available to persons outside the Department, as provided in 22 CFR part 9. Classification does not preclude the obligation to ensure that environmental documents are reviewed by competent scientific and technical experts. Appropriate arrangements will be made through the Office of Environmental Quality and Transboundary Issues or Federal agency review of classified or administratively controlled environmental documents.

(i) Environmental assessments are not required for actions which it is already known will require the preparation of environmental impact statements. For each major Departmental action which, in the view of the responsible action officer meets the criteria of this section, he shall, in cooperation with theOffice of Environmental Quality and Transboundary Issues, initiate steps to prepare an environmental impact statement. This will be accomplished by preparing a “Notice of intent” to prepare an EIS (see § 1508.22 of the CEQ Regulations). The Office of Environmental Quality and Transboundary Issues shall arrange for publication of the notice in the Federal Register (see § 1507.3(e) of the CEQ Regulations). The responsible action officer shall then apply the procedures set forth in § 161.8 of these regulations to determine the scope of the proposed EIS, and proceed to prepare and release the environmental impact statement in accordance with CEQ and Departmental regulations. If, however, the responsible action officer believes that the proposed action, though included within or closely similar to one which normally requires the preparation of an EIS, will itself have no significant impact, he should conduct an environmental assessment in accordance with the CEQ Regulations (§ 1508.9). If the assessment demonstrates that there will be no significant impact, he should prepare a “Finding of no significant impact” and provide for public review a notice of this finding in accordance with §§ 1501.4(e) and 1506.6 of the CEQ Regulations.