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note 36, at 4333839. As soon as practicable after determining that a proposal is sufficiently developed to allow for meaningful public comment and requires an environmental impact statement, the lead agency shall publish a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement in the CEQ proposes to add this section to codify the current practice of agencies to engage with one another and enlist CEQ to help resolve interagency disputes. (a) Federal agencies should engage in interagency coordination and collaboration in their planning and decision-making processes and should identify and resolve disputes concerning proposed major Federal actions early in the NEPA process. the official SGML-based PDF version on govinfo.gov, those relying on it for habitat type; (3) Include mitigation measures that, in the absence of extraordinary circumstances, will ensure that any environmental effects are not significant, so long as a process is established for monitoring and enforcing any required mitigation measures, including through the suspension or revocation of the relevant agency action; or. (b) The draft environmental impact statement shall list all Federal permits, licenses, and other authorizations that must be obtained in implementing the proposal. (b) CEQ proposes to update paragraph (b) for consistency with section 107(h) of NEPA. daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov will remain an unofficial Id. 40 CFR 1500.3(b)(2), 1502.17, 1503.1(a)(3). 67. [13] . The agency shall provide for public engagement opportunities consistent with the type of environmental document prepared and appropriate for the location, phase, or stage. (iii) The degree to which the proposed action may adversely affect unique characteristics of the geographic area such as historic or cultural resources, park lands, Tribal sacred sites, prime farmlands, wetlands, wild and scenic rivers, or ecologically critical areas. 4. Additionally, this proposed change would encourage agencies to incorporate mitigation measures to address disproportionate burdens on communities with environmental justice concerns. additional changes to the NEPA regulations would be appropriate in light of the obligation for Tribal consultation. 4331. Executive Order 14036 - Wikipedia . supra This approach to severability is the same as the approach that CEQ took when it promulgated the 2020 regulations, because those amendments similarly could be layered onto the 1978 regulations individually without disrupting the overarching NEPA review process. CEQ acknowledges that the proposed regulations would not include explicit limits in any of these areas. CEQ proposes to clarify that human environment and environment are synonymous in the regulations given that the latter is the more commonly used term. regulatory information on FederalRegister.gov with the objective of 26, 2023). . Environmental Justice Strategic Plans. The proposal would direct agencies to set deadlines and schedules tailored to individual or types of proposed actions to facilitate meeting the deadlines proposed in 1501.10(b). CEQ proposes to move 40 CFR 1501.9(a), outlining the general purpose of scoping, to 1502.4(a) and proposes to change the words significant and non-significant to important and unimportant, respectively, to align with CEQ's proposed change to only use the word significant when describing effects. This erroneously implies that actions covered by 1506.11 are not subject to NEPA review. Paragraph (c)(8)(i) would include the existing requirement from 40 CFR 1507.3(e)(2)(i) that agencies identify when documentation is required for a determination that a CE applies to a proposed action. (c) Advancing environmental justice will require investing in and supporting culturally vibrant, sustainable, and resilient communities in which every person has safe, clean, and affordable options for housing, energy, and transportation. Upon request of the lead agency, any Federal agency with jurisdiction by law shall be a cooperating agency. Concise and informative environmental documents. (a) Agencies should integrate the NEPA process with other planning and authorization processes at the earliest reasonable time to ensure that agencies consider environmental impacts in their planning and decisions, to avoid delays later in the process, and to head off potential conflicts. Since 1978, the CEQ regulations have required agencies to identify the environmentally preferable alternative or alternatives in the ROD (1505.2(b)). Agencies should publish such notices if they withdraw, cancel, or otherwise cease the consideration of a proposed action before completing a final EIS. To accommodate the change in numbering described in section II.H.6, CEQ proposes to renumber 40 CFR 1506.11 Timing of agency action to 1506.10. To ensure that the Nation's policies and investments respond to the needs of every community, all people should be afforded the opportunity to meaningfully participate in agency decision-making processes that may affect the health of their community or environment. The regulations further required agency-level implementation, directing Federal agencies to issue and update periodically agency-specific implementing procedures to supplement CEQ's procedures and integrate the NEPA process into the agencies' specific programs and processes. (b) Section 309 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. The schedule would include key milestones for the environmental review process, including reviews, permits, and authorizations, and the lead agency would develop it in consultation with the applicant or project sponsor and in consultation with and seek the concurrence of any joint lead, cooperating, and participating agencies. (e) An agency may apply a categorical exclusion listed in another agency's NEPA procedures to a proposed action or a category of proposed actions consistent with this paragraph. Finally, in redesignated paragraph (j), CEQ proposes to delete the reference to E.O. (d) Prepare adequate environmental impact statements pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of NEPA and cooperate on the development of statements in the areas where the agency has jurisdiction by law or special expertise or is authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards. In 1502.9(c), CEQ proposes to clarify that a final EIS should consider and respond to comments rather than just address them, restoring language from the 1978 regulations and aligning the language with text at 1503.4(a) regarding consideration of comments. Statutory requirements for environmental impact statements. Where available and appropriate, agencies also can use or rely on projections that are scaled to a more targeted and localized geographic scope, such as land use projections, air emissions, and modeling, or to evaluate climate effects experienced locally in relation to the proposed action. (2) Allocate assignments for preparation of the environmental impact statement among the lead and cooperating agencies, with the lead agency retaining responsibility for the statement. Start Printed Page 49985 To emphasize the importance of informed and efficient decision making, CEQ proposes to require agencies to elevate any unresolved disputes contributing to the missed milestone to the appropriate officials for resolution within the deadlines for the individual action. An agency does not need to supplement its environmental impact statement or environmental assessment or revise its record of decision or finding of no significant impact or separate decision document based solely on new information developed through the monitoring and compliance plan. note 63, at 41719. Section 106 adds provisions for determining the appropriate level of NEPA review. As CEQ's regulations have made clear since 1978, parties must provide comments that are as specific as possible to enable agencies to consider and address information during the decision-making processes. Draft environmental impact statements. EPA, (a) Finally, CEQ proposes to strike the last sentence stating that the CEQ regulations do not limit an agency's other authorities or legal responsibilities, which the 2020 rule added to acknowledge the possibility of different statutory authorities with different requirements. A new paragraph (c)(2) would state that any new information developed through the monitoring and compliance plan would not require an agency to supplement their environmental documents solely because of this new information. Generally. CEQ invites comment on this preliminary determination. See In addition to issuing the regulations for implementing NEPA, 40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508 (referred to throughout as the CEQ regulations), CEQ has issued guidance on numerous topics related to NEPA review. 14008, An agency may reevaluate an environmental impact statement and find that changes to the proposed action or new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns are not substantial or that the underlying assumptions of the analysis remains valid, and therefore do not require a supplement under paragraph (d) of this section. CEQ proposes to revise 1500.4 to emphasize the important values served by concise and informative NEPA documents beyond merely reducing paperwork, such as promoting informed and efficient decision making and facilitating meaningful public participation. 13807, At appropriate points in the draft statement, the agency shall discuss all major points of view on the environmental effects of the alternatives, including the proposed action. Email:askNEPA@hq.doe.gov. White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council. 13985, [36], In the months that followed the issuance of the 2020 regulations, five lawsuits were filed challenging the 2020 rule. Finally, as discussed in section II.G.2, CEQ proposes to add a new sentence at the end of paragraph (c) to require a monitoring and compliance plan when the EA relies on mitigation as a component of the proposed action and incorporates the mitigation into the FONSI, consistent with proposed 1505.3(c). to paragraph (a) to make the provision consistent with the definition of categorical exclusion; changing real issues to important issues that required detailed analysis in paragraph (f) for consistency with 1502.4; and expanding the scope of paragraph (h) from EISs to environmental documents to make clear that, regardless of the level of NEPA review, agencies should prepare environmental documents early in the process. Finally, CEQ helps advance the environmental review process for projects or initiatives deemed important to an administration such as nationally and regionally significant projects, major infrastructure projects, and consideration of climate change-related effects and effects on communities with environmental justice concerns.[12]. (3) Are interdependent parts of a larger action and depend on the larger action for their justification. Fed. Finally, CEQ proposes to add paragraph (a)(14) to provide that agencies must discuss the potential for disproportionate and adverse health and environmental effects on communities with environmental justice concerns. 12988, supra Number: 2023-17832 PDF 3 pages Permalink EO 14105: Addressing United States Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern Signed: 08/09/2023 Published: 08/11/2023 CEQ views an emphasis on engagement with such communities to be important because agencies have not always meaningfully engaged with them and such communities have been disproportionately and adversely affected by certain Federal activities. CEQ proposes to strike the text in paragraph (c) regarding mitigation and strike existing 40 CFR 1505.3(d) regarding publication of monitoring, replacing them with the new language in 1505.3(c) regarding the contents of a monitoring and compliance plan. Start Printed Page 49937 Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance,74 FR 52117 (Oct. 8, 2009); E.O. Environmental Stewardship and Transportation Infrastructure Project Reviews,67 FR 59449 (Sept. 23, 2002);