1625-0015 Stat/Authority

Council on Environmental Quality

§ 1507.2

(c) If the final environmental impact
statement is filed within ninety (90)
days after a draft environmental impact statement is filed with the Environmental Protection Agency, the minimum thirty (30) day period and the
minimum ninety (90) day period may
run concurrently. However, subject to
paragraph (d) of this section agencies
shall allow not less than 45 days for
comments on draft statements.
(d) The lead agency may extend prescribed periods. The Environmental
Protection Agency may upon a showing by the lead agency of compelling
reasons of national policy reduce the
prescribed periods and may upon a
showing by any other Federal agency
of compelling reasons of national policy also extend prescribed periods, but
only after consultation with the lead
agency. (Also see § 1507.3(d).) Failure to
file timely comments shall not be a
sufficient reason for extending a period. If the lead agency does not concur
with the extension of time, EPA may
not extend it for more than 30 days.
When the Environmental Protection
Agency reduces or extends any period
of time it shall notify the Council.
[43 FR 56000, Nov. 29, 1978; 44 FR 874, Jan. 3,
1979]

§ 1506.11

Emergencies.

Where
emergency
circumstances
make it necessary to take an action
with significant environmental impact
without observing the provisions of
these regulations, the Federal agency
taking the action should consult with
the Council about alternative arrangements. Agencies and the Council will
limit such arrangements to actions
necessary to control the immediate impacts of the emergency. Other actions
remain subject to NEPA review.

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§ 1506.12

Effective date.

The effective date of these regulations is July 30, 1979, except that for
agencies that administer programs
that qualify under section 102(2)(D) of
the Act or under section 104(h) of the
Housing and Community Development
Act of 1974 an additional four months
shall be allowed for the State or local
agencies to adopt their implementing
procedures.

(a) These regulations shall apply to
the fullest extent practicable to ongoing activities and environmental documents begun before the effective date.
These regulations do not apply to an
environmental impact statement or
supplement if the draft statement was
filed before the effective date of these
regulations. No completed environmental documents need be redone by
reasons of these regulations. Until
these regulations are applicable, the
Council’s guidelines published in the
FEDERAL REGISTER of August 1, 1973,
shall continue to be applicable. In
cases where these regulations are applicable the guidelines are superseded.
However, nothing shall prevent an
agency from proceeding under these
regulations at an earlier time.
(b) NEPA shall continue to be applicable to actions begun before January
1, 1970, to the fullest extent possible.

PART 1507—AGENCY
COMPLIANCE
Sec.
1507.1
1507.2
1507.3

Compliance.
Agency capability to comply.
Agency procedures.

AUTHORITY: NEPA, the Environmental
Quality Improvement Act of 1970, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), sec. 309 of the Clean
Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7609), and E.O.
11514 (Mar. 5, 1970, as amended by E.O. 11991,
May 24, 1977).
SOURCE: 43 FR 56002, Nov. 29, 1978, unless
otherwise noted.

§ 1507.1

Compliance.

All agencies of the Federal Government shall comply with these regulations. It is the intent of these regulations to allow each agency flexibility
in adapting its implementing procedures authorized by § 1507.3 to the requirements of other applicable laws.
§ 1507.2

Agency capability to comply.

Each agency shall be capable (in
terms of personnel and other resources)
of complying with the requirements
enumerated below. Such compliance
may include use of other’s resources,
but the using agency shall itself have
sufficient capability to evaluate what
others do for it. Agencies shall:

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§ 1507.3

40 CFR Ch. V (7–1–11 Edition)

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(a) Fulfill the requirements of section 102(2)(A) of the Act to 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 the human environment.
Agencies shall designate a person to be
responsible for overall review of agency
NEPA compliance.
(b) Identify methods and procedures
required by section 102(2)(B) to insure
that presently unquantified environmental amenities and values may be
given appropriate consideration.
(c) Prepare adequate environmental
impact statements pursuant to section
102(2)(C) and comment on statements
in the areas where the agency has jurisdiction by law or special expertise or
is authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards.
(d) Study, develop, and describe alternatives to recommended courses of
action in any proposal which involves
unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of available resources. This
requirement of section 102(2)(E) extends to all such proposals, not just the
more
limited
scope
of
section
102(2)(C)(iii) where the discussion of alternatives is confined to impact statements.
(e) Comply with the requirements of
section 102(2)(H) that the agency initiate and utilize ecological information
in the planning and development of resource-oriented projects.
(f) Fulfill the requirements of sections 102(2)(F), 102(2)(G), and 102(2)(I),
of the Act and of Executive Order 11514,
Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality, Sec. 2.
§ 1507.3 Agency procedures.
(a) Not later than eight months after
publication of these regulations as finally adopted in the FEDERAL REGISTER, or five months after the establishment of an agency, whichever shall
come later, each agency shall as necessary adopt procedures to supplement
these regulations. When the agency is a
department, major subunits are encouraged (with the consent of the department) to adopt their own procedures. Such procedures shall not paraphrase these regulations. They shall

confine themselves to implementing
procedures. Each agency shall consult
with the Council while developing its
procedures and before publishing them
in the FEDERAL REGISTER for comment.
Agencies with similar programs should
consult with each other and the Council to coordinate their procedures, especially for programs requesting similar information from applicants. The
procedures shall be adopted only after
an opportunity for public review and
after review by the Council for conformity with the Act and these regulations. The Council shall complete its
review within 30 days. Once in effect
they shall be filed with the Council and
made readily available to the public.
Agencies are encouraged to publish explanatory guidance for these regulations and their own procedures. 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.
(b) Agency procedures shall comply
with these regulations except where
compliance would be inconsistent with
statutory requirements and shall include:
(1) Those procedures required by
§§ 1501.2(d), 1502.9(c)(3), 1505.1, 1506.6(e),
and 1508.4.
(2) Specific criteria for and identification of those typical classes of action:
(i) Which normally do require environmental impact statements.
(ii) Which normally do not require either an environmental impact statement or an environmental assessment
(categorical exclusions (§ 1508.4)).
(iii) Which normally require environmental assessments but not necessarily
environmental impact statements.
(c) Agency procedures may include
specific criteria for providing limited
exceptions to the provisions of these
regulations for classified proposals.
They are proposed actions which are
specifically authorized under criteria
established by an Executive Order or
statute to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified
pursuant to such Executive Order or
statute. Environmental assessments
and environmental impact statements

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Council on Environmental Quality

§ 1508.5

which address classified proposals may
be safeguarded and restricted from public dissemination in accordance with
agencies’ own regulations applicable to
classified information. These documents may be organized so that classified portions can be included as annexes, in order that the unclassified
portions can be made available to the
public.
(d) Agency procedures may provide
for periods of time other than those
presented in § 1506.10 when necessary to
comply with other specific statutory
requirements.
(e) Agency procedures may provide
that where there is a lengthy period between the agency’s decision to prepare
an environmental impact statement
and the time of actual preparation, the
notice of intent required by § 1501.7
may be published at a reasonable time
in advance of preparation of the draft
statement.

PART 1508—TERMINOLOGY AND
INDEX

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Sec.
1508.1
1508.2
1508.3
1508.4
1508.5
1508.6
1508.7
1508.8
1508.9
1508.10
1508.11
1508.12
1508.13
1508.14
1508.15
1508.16
1508.17
1508.18
1508.19
1508.20
1508.21
1508.22
1508.23
1508.24
1508.25
1508.26
1508.27
1508.28

Terminology.
Act.
Affecting.
Categorical exclusion.
Cooperating agency.
Council.
Cumulative impact.
Effects.
Environmental assessment.
Environmental document.
Environmental impact statement.
Federal agency.
Finding of no significant impact.
Human environment.
Jurisdiction by law.
Lead agency.
Legislation.
Major Federal action.
Matter.
Mitigation.
NEPA process.
Notice of intent.
Proposal.
Referring agency.
Scope.
Special expertise.
Significantly.
Tiering.

SOURCE: 43 FR 56003, Nov. 29, 1978, unless
otherwise noted.

§ 1508.1

§ 1508.2

Act.

Act means the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended (42
U.S.C. 4321, et seq.) which is also referred to as ‘‘NEPA.’’
§ 1508.3

Affecting.

Affecting means will or may have an
effect on.
§ 1508.4

Categorical exclusion.

Categorical exclusion means a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment
and which have been found to have no
such effect in procedures adopted by a
Federal agency in implementation of
these regulations (§ 1507.3) and for
which, therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement is required.
An agency may decide in its procedures
or otherwise, to prepare environmental
assessments for the reasons stated in
§ 1508.9 even though it is not required to
do so. Any procedures under this section shall provide for extraordinary
circumstances in which a normally excluded action may have a significant
environmental effect.
§ 1508.5

AUTHORITY: NEPA, the Environmental
Quality Improvement Act of 1970, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), sec. 309 of the Clean
Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7609), and E.O.
11514 (Mar. 5, 1970, as amended by E.O. 11991,
May 24, 1977).

Terminology.

The terminology of this part shall be
uniform throughout the Federal Government.

Cooperating agency.

Cooperating agency means any Federal agency other than a lead agency
which has jurisdiction by law or special
expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved in a proposal
(or a reasonable alternative) for legislation or other major Federal action
significantly affecting the quality of
the human environment. The selection
and responsibilities of a cooperating
agency are described in § 1501.6. A State
or local agency of similar qualifications or, when the effects are on a reservation, an Indian Tribe, may by
agreement with the lead agency become a cooperating agency.

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