The National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969 (NEPA), establishes the federal government's national
policy for protection of the environment. The Council on
Environmental Quality Regulations (CEQ Regulations) at 40 CFR parts
1500 through 1508 establish procedures implementing the national
policy. The CEQ Regulations (40 CFR 1505.1) require federal
agencies to adopt and, revise their own implementing procedures to
supplement the CEQ Regulations. Those subject to the final NEPA
rule include EPA officials who must comply with NEPA, and certain
grant or permit applicants who must submit environmental
information documentation to EPA for their proposed projects.
Compliance with the final NEPA regulations is the responsibility of
EPA's Responsible Officials. For applicant-proposed actions,
certain procedures apply to applicants (that is grantees and permit
applicants) who must submit environmental information to EPA as
part of the environmental review process. The EPA Responsible
Official is responsible for the environmental review process,
including any categorical exclusion determination or the scope,
accuracy, and contents of a final environmental assessment (EA) or
environmental impact statement (EIS) and any supporting documents.
The applicant contributes by submitting environmental information
to EPA as part of the environmental review process. For actions
subject to NEPA, the Responsible Official may determine that the
proposed action does not individually or cumulatively have a
significant effect on the human environment and may, therefore, be
categorically excluded from further NEPA review. If the proposed
action is not categorically excluded, the Responsible Official may
prepare an EA in order to determine whether to prepare an EIS or a
finding of no significant impact (FONSI). If necessary, the
Responsible Official must prepare an EIS if the proposed action
will have a significant effect on the human environment. Unless the
applicant-proposed action is categorically excluded, the
Responsible Official may gather the information and prepare the
NEPA documents without assistance from the applicant, or have the
applicant prepare an environmental information document (EID) or a
draft EA and supporting documents or implement a third-party
contract agreement with the applicant. EPA is collecting
information from certain applicants as part of the process of
complying with either NEPA or Executive Order 12114. EPA's NEPA
regulations apply to the actions of EPA that are subject to NEPA in
order to ensure that environmental information is available to the
Agency's decision-makers and the public before decisions are made
and before actions are taken. The NEPA review and resulting
documents generally rely on the use of existing data and
information, including data and information from other federal
agencies, state or local governments, or federally-recognized
Indian tribes with jurisdiction by law or special expertise. The
quality of the information provided by an applicant must be
sufficient to enable the Responsible Official to make a decision.
When the environmental information is provided by the applicant,
the Responsible Official is responsible for the statements,
analyses, and conclusions of the EA or EIS and any supporting
documents. There are no forms, checklists, or ongoing reporting,
recordkeeping or file-maintenance requirements for applicants. EPA
maintains file records for each action. The information submitted
by applicants would be consistent with the guidelines of the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) in 5 CFR 1320.6. There are no
schedule requirements or requirements on the number of copies of
the documentation to be submitted or requirements for ongoing
reporting or recordkeeping or to conduct statistical
surveys.
US Code:
41 USC 4321-4347 Name of Law: National Environmental Policy
Act
EO: EO 12114 Name/Subject of EO: Environmental
Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions
Under the current ICR, EPA
estimated that approximately 75% of the annual 300 grant projects
would be documented with a CE, and 25% with an EA. Under the
renewal ICR, we expect the burden to be reduced due to fewer NEPA
documents being completed following the elimination of awarding
SAAP grants in 2010. This is further supported by information
posted online in EPA’s NEPA Compliance Database on NEPA documents
for its own actions that require documentation.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
2243ss08.docx
Categorical Exclusion (CE) - for State/Local/Tribal Governments