Common use of NEPA Clause in Contracts

NEPA. Issuance of an enhancement of survival permit is a Federal action subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The purpose of NEPA is to promote productive and enjoyable harmony between human activity and the natural world by ensuring that there is analysis and disclosure of the environmental issues surrounding a proposed Federal action. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR '' 1500-1508) require all agencies to analyze the impacts of their proposed actions and to include other agencies and the public in the process. The goals and mechanisms of NEPA and the Endangered Species Act as they relate to enhancement of survival permits and CCAAs are similar and functionally compatible in many respects. It is important to recognize the similarities and differences in the requirements and to integrate those requirements in a manner that provides useful information to the decision-maker and to the public. Although the Act’s section 10 requirements and NEPA’s requirements overlap considerably, the scope of NEPA goes beyond that of the Act by considering the impacts of a Federal action on non-wildlife resources including, but not limited to, water quality, air quality, and cultural resources. Depending on the scope and likely impacts of the CCAA, NEPA requirements can be satisfied through: (1) a categorical exclusion, (2) an Environmental Assessment (EA), or (3) an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). CEQ regulations (40 CFR 1508.4) define categorical exclusions as "...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." The Service’s procedures for implementing categorical exclusions are found in the Department of the Interior Manual (Departmental Manual or DM) at 516 DM 6, Appendix 1; and 516 DM 2, Appendices 1 & 2. The Departmental Manual categorically excludes the issuance of permits involving fish, wildlife, or plants from further NEPA compliance review, when such permits cause no or negligible environmental disturbance. If it is determined that a CCAA can be categorically excluded from further NEPA compliance review, a written finding of this determination should be part of the administrative record for that document. The Service expects that most CCAAs will be categorically excluded from further NEPA compliance review. A CCAA screening form (Appendix 6) is provided to help applicants and Field Offices determine if any of the exceptions to a categorical exclusion will apply to a given CCAA.