§161.7. Categories of actions. — Inbound Citations

(1) During the initial environmental review of the proposed action, the responsible action officer should classify the proposed Departmental action as one either normally requiring an environmental impact statement, normally not requiring such a statement, or normally requiring an environmental assessment. (See § 1504.1 of the CEQ Regulations and § 161.7 of these regulations.)

(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.

(ii) Separate detailed documentation is not normally required for actions which are categorically excluded and which are therefore exempt from the requirement of preparations of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement. However, the responsible action officer shall note in the action memorandum concerning the action that the proposed action has been reviewed under the Department's environmental procedures and determined to be categorically excluded. The Office of Environmental Quality and Transboundary Issues shall periodically review actions in the classes categorically excluded under these regulations to determine if the original decision to categorically exclude the class remains valid. If such a review determines that a proposed action may have a significant impact on the human environment the necessary revision in the categorical exclusion shall be made and an environmental assessment shall be prepared to determine the need for the preparation of an environmental impact statement.

(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.

(i) Preparation of an environmental impact statement shall be initiated as soon as the responsible action officer, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Quality and Transboundary Issues and the Office of the Legal Adviser, has determined that the statement shall be prepared. Except where permitted by the CEQ Regulations (§§ 1506.10(d), 1506.11) and these regulations (§§ 161.7(d), 161.9(n)(2)), no decision on the proposed action shall be made by the Department until the later of the following dates: