42 Usc 4332

From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access

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[Laws in effect as of January 3, 2007]

[CITE: 42USC4332]

[Page 790-791]

TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

CHAPTER 55--NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

SUBCHAPTER I--POLICIES AND GOALS

Sec. 4332. Cooperation of agencies; reports; availability of

information; recommendations; international and national

coordination of efforts

The Congress authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent

possible: (1) the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United

States shall be interpreted and administered in accordance with the

policies set forth in this chapter, and (2) all agencies of the Federal

Government shall--

(A) utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach which will

insure the integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the

environmental design arts in planning and in decisionmaking which

may have an impact on man's environment;

(B) identify and develop methods and procedures, in consultation

with the Council on Environmental Quality established by subchapter

II of this chapter, which will insure that presently unquantified

environmental amenities and values may be given appropriate

consideration in decisionmaking along with economic and technical

considerations;

(C) include in every recommendation or report on proposals for

legislation and other major Federal actions significantly affecting

the quality of the human environment, a detailed statement by the

responsible official on--

(i) the environmental impact of the proposed action,

(ii) any adverse environmental effects which cannot be

avoided should the proposal be implemented,

(iii) alternatives to the proposed action,

(iv) the relationship between local short-term uses of man's

environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term

productivity, and

(v) any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of

resources which would be involved in the proposed action should

it be implemented.

Prior to making any detailed statement, the responsible Federal

official shall consult with and obtain the comments of any Federal

agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with

respect to any environmental impact involved. Copies of such

statement and the comments and views of the appropriate Federal,

State, and local agencies, which are authorized to develop and

enforce environmental standards, shall be made available to the

President, the Council on Environmental Quality and to the public as

provided by section 552 of title 5, and shall accompany the proposal

through the existing agency review processes;

(D) Any detailed statement required under subparagraph (C) after

January 1, 1970, for any major Federal action funded under a program

of grants to States shall not be deemed to be legally insufficient

solely by reason of having been prepared by a State agency or

official, if:

(i) the State agency or official has statewide jurisdiction

and has the responsibility for such action,

(ii) the responsible Federal official furnishes guidance and

participates in such preparation,

(iii) the responsible Federal official independently

evaluates such statement prior to its approval and adoption, and

(iv) after January 1, 1976, the responsible Federal official

provides early notification to, and solicits the views of, any

other State or any Federal land management entity of any action

or any alternative thereto which may have significant impacts

upon such State or affected Federal land management entity and,

if there is any disagreement on such impacts, prepares a written

assessment of such impacts and views for incorporation into such

detailed statement.

The procedures in this subparagraph shall not relieve the Federal

official of his responsibilities for the scope, objectivity, and

content of the entire statement or of any other responsibility under

this chapter; and further, this subparagraph does not affect the

legal sufficiency of statements prepared by State agencies with less

than statewide jurisdiction.\1\

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\1\ So in original. The period probably should be a semicolon.

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(E) study, develop, and describe appropriate alternatives to

recommended courses of action in any proposal which involves

unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of available

resources;

(F) recognize the worldwide and long-range character of

environmental problems and, where consistent with the foreign policy

of the United States, lend appropriate support to initiatives,

resolutions, and programs designed to maximize international

cooperation in antici

[[Page 791]]

pating and preventing a decline in the quality of mankind's world

environment;

(G) make available to States, counties, municipalities,

institutions, and individuals, advice and information useful in

restoring, maintaining, and enhancing the quality of the

environment;

(H) initiate and utilize ecological information in the planning

and development of resource-oriented projects; and

(I) assist the Council on Environmental Quality established by

subchapter II of this chapter.

(Pub. L. 91-190, title I, Sec. 102, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 853; Pub. L.

94-83, Aug. 9, 1975, 89 Stat. 424.)

Amendments

1975--Subpars. (D) to (I). Pub. L. 94-83 added subpar. (D) and

redesignated former subpars. (D) to (H) as (E) to (I), respectively.

Certain Commercial Space Launch Activities

Pub. L. 104-88, title IV, Sec. 401, Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 955,

provided that: ``The licensing of a launch vehicle or launch site

operator (including any amendment, extension, or renewal of the license)

under chapter 701 of title 49, United States Code, shall not be

considered a major Federal action for purposes of section 102(C) of the

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(C)) if--

``(1) the Department of the Army has issued a permit for the

activity; and

``(2) the Army Corps of Engineers has found that the activity

has no significant impact.''

Ex. Ord. No. 13352. Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation

Ex. Ord. No. 13352, Aug. 26, 2004, 69 F.R. 52989, provided:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and

the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as

follows:

Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of this order is to ensure that the

Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense and the

Environmental Protection Agency implement laws relating to the

environment and natural resources in a manner that promotes cooperative

conservation, with an emphasis on appropriate inclusion of local

participation in Federal decisionmaking, in accordance with their

respective agency missions, policies, and regulations.

Sec. 2. Definition. As used in this order, the term ``cooperative

conservation'' means actions that relate to use, enhancement, and

enjoyment of natural resources, protection of the environment, or both,

and that involve collaborative activity among Federal, State, local, and

tribal governments, private for-profit and nonprofit institutions, other

nongovernmental entities and individuals.

Sec. 3. Federal Activities. To carry out the purpose of this order,

the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense and

the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall, to the

extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of

appropriations and in coordination with each other as appropriate:

(a) carry out the programs, projects, and activities of the agency

that they respectively head that implement laws relating to the

environment and natural resources in a manner that:

(i) facilitates cooperative conservation;

(ii) takes appropriate account of and respects the interests of

persons with ownership or other legally recognized interests in land

and other natural resources;

(iii) properly accommodates local participation in Federal

decisionmaking; and

(iv) provides that the programs, projects, and activities are

consistent with protecting public health and safety;

(b) report annually to the Chairman of the Council on Environmental

Quality on actions taken to implement this order; and

(c) provide funding to the Office of Environmental Quality

Management Fund (42 U.S.C. 4375) for the Conference for which section 4

of this order provides.

Sec. 4. White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation. The

Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality shall, to the extent

permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations:

(a) convene not later than 1 year after the date of this order, and

thereafter at such times as the Chairman deems appropriate, a White

House Conference on Cooperative Conservation (Conference) to facilitate

the exchange of information and advice relating to (i) cooperative

conservation and (ii) means for achievement of the purpose of this

order; and

(b) ensure that the Conference obtains information in a manner that

seeks from Conference participants their individual advice and does not

involve collective judgment or consensus advice or deliberation.

Sec. 5. General Provision. This order is not intended to, and does

not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable

at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its

departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, its officers,

employees or agents, or any other person.

George W. Bush.