View Rule
View EO 12866 Meetings | Printer-Friendly Version Download RIN Data in XML |
USDA/APHIS | RIN: 0579-AC60 | Publication ID: Fall 2017 |
Title: National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures | |
Abstract:
We are amending the regulations that set out our National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures. The amendments will clarify when we will complete an environmental impact statement or an environmental analysis for an action, provide additional categories of actions for which we will prepare such documents, expand the list of actions subject to categorical exclusion from further environmental documentation, and set out an environmental documentation process that could be used in emergencies. The changes are intended to update the regulations and improve their clarity and effectiveness. |
|
Agency: Department of Agriculture(USDA) | Priority: Other Significant |
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda | Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Final Rule Stage |
Major: No | Unfunded Mandates: No |
EO 13771 Designation: Deregulatory | |
CFR Citation: 7 CFR 372 | |
Legal Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. |
Legal Deadline:
None |
||||||||||||
Statement of Need: APHIS' NEPA regulations were last amended in 1995. The Council on Environmental Quality's regulations for implementing NEPA at 40 CFR 1507.3(a) indicate that agencies "shall continue to review their policies and procedures and in consultation with the Council to revise them as necessary to ensure full compliance with the purposes and provisions of the Act." Accordingly, we have evaluated our regulations and identified changes that would clarify the regulations, make them more consistent with NEPA, and allow us greater flexibility in fulfilling the requirements of NEPA and CEQ's NEPA implementing regulations while responding to immediate disease and pest threats or damage to the environment. |
||||||||||||
Summary of the Legal Basis: The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), is the United States' basic charter for protection of the environment. Consistent with NEPA and with the requirements of CEQ's NEPA implementing regulations, APHIS' NEPA regulations provide guidance, sources of information and assistance, definitions, classifications of action, identification of major planning and decision points, opportunities for public involvement, and methods of processing different types of environmental documents. |
||||||||||||
Alternatives: Leaving the regulations unchanged would be unsatisfactory because it would perpetuate the current situation; i.e., one in which the current regulations, last amended in 1995, are outdated and in need of clarification. Another alternative would be to establish criteria for categorical exclusion that are less (or more) restrictive, thus increasing (or decreasing) the number of actions eligible for categorical exclusion. |
||||||||||||
Anticipated Costs and Benefits: APHIS has determined that the proposed rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Some entities will experience time and money savings, but the savings should benefit only a few entities each year. The proposal would also serve to clarify the regulations and make the NEPA process more transparent, which, although beneficial, should not have a significant economic impact on affected entities. |
||||||||||||
Risks: Not Applicable. |
||||||||||||
Timetable:
|
Additional Information: Additional information about APHIS and its programs is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov. | |
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: No | Government Levels Affected: None |
Federalism: No | |
Included in the Regulatory Plan: Yes | |
RIN Data Printed in the FR: No | |
Agency Contact: Eileen Sutker APHIS Federal NEPA Contact, Environmental and Risk Analysis Services, PPD Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 4700 River Road, Unit 149, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Phone:301 851-3043 |