[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 161 (Friday, August 20, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45558-45560]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21700]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
Establishment by the National Institutes of Health of Categorical
Exclusions Under the National Environmental Policy Act
AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, DHHS.
ACTION: Notice of establishment by the NIH of categorical exclusions
under the National Environmental Policy Act.
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SUMMARY: This notice lists the categories of actions by the NIH that
normally do not require the preparation of either an environmental
impact statement or an environmental assessment under the National
Environmental Policy Act. This list has been prepared in accordance
with the Council On Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations and with
Chapter 30 of the DHHS General Administration Manual. These exclusions
apply to all NIH organizations and activities.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 19, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Joseph G.
Hugo, P.E., Chief, Pollution Control Section, Division of Safety,
Office of Research Services, National Institutes of Health, Building
13, Room 2W64, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph G. Hugo, P.E., Chief, Pollution
Control Section, Division of Safety, Office of Research Services,
National Institutes of Health, Building 13, Room 2W64, Bethesda,
Maryland 20892; telephone 301-496-7775; FAX 301-480-8056; E-mail
Address: jhg@helix.nih.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., mandates that agencies
perform environmental reviews of their actions. NEPA specifically
requires that agencies prepare detailed environmental statements for
major Federal actions that have a significant effect on the quality of
the human environment, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C). CEQ's regulations
implementing NEPA require that Federal agencies revise their policies,
procedures, and regulations to ensure full compliance with NEPA's
purposes and provisions, 40 CFR 1500.6, 1507.3. CEQ's regulations also
require agencies to establish procedures governing categories of
actions normally excluded from NEPA review because they do not
individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human
environment, 40 CFR 1508.4.
DHHS adopted such procedures after giving notice in the Federal
Register (45 FR 76519). These procedures were approved by CEQ on
October 2, 1980, and they have been included in DHHS General
Administration Manual (GAM) Chapter 30. These procedures require DHHS
agencies to evaluate their actions in order to determine the potential
environmental effects of the actions. DHHS agencies can exclude from
further NEPA review the categories of actions they take that normally
do not have a significant effect on the quality of the human
environment. Under these procedures, the categories of an agency's
actions excluded from NEPA environmental review must be approved by the
head of the DHHS agency and receive the concurrence of the DHHS
Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget. On January 11, 1999,
DHHS published notice of proposed revisions to DHHS GAM Chapter 30 (64
FR 1656).
The NIH's statutory mission is to conduct and support biomedical
and behavioral research, training, the preparation and dissemination of
health information, and related programs. In order to fulfill this
mission, the NIH both performs research in its own facilities and
supports research by other institutions through the awarding of grants
and contracts.
The NIH has reviewed the types of actions taken by the agency that
could have a foreseeable effect on the quality of the human
environment. The NIH is providing notice of the actions taken by the
agency that will normally be categorically excluded from further
environmental review because individually and cumulatively they will
not have a significant effect on the human environment. The categorical
exclusions listed below are in addition to those listed in DHHS GAM
Chapter 30. Additional, if a proposed action is
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included in one of the categories but extraordinary circumstances as
described in section D of this notice apply, an environmental review
will be performed.
Contents
A. General exclusions.
B. Functional exclusions.
C. Program exclusions.
D. Extraordinary circumstances.
A. General exclusions
Subject to a review for extraordinary circumstances, NIH will not
perform an environmental review of actions excluded by regulation from
NEPA review.
B. Functional Exclusions
The following actions are normally excluded from NEPA review,
subject to a review for extraordinary circumstances.
1. Routine administrative and management support, including budget
and finance, planning, procurement of supplies and services, management
and oversight of grants and other funding instruments, legal counsel,
public affairs, program evaluation, travel, and human resources
management.
2. Maintenance, including repairs necessary to ensure the operation
of existing facilities, grounds maintenance, and the decontamination of
laboratory or other space and equipment.
3. Acquisition of space by lease and modifications of leases, when
the use of the space will comply with all applicable Federal, State,
and local laws, including all environmental protection and zoning laws,
and lease extensions and terminations.
4. Relocation of employees into existing Government-owned or
Government-leased space.
5. Facility planning and design.
6. Construction, or construction pursuant to a lease, of 12,000
square feet or less of occupiable space.
7. Interior construction and renovation of NIH facilities.
8. The acquisition, sale, release, disposal, abandonment, closure,
or transfer of real or personal property, provided that the action does
not violate applicable Federal, State, or local laws, including
historical preservation laws.
9. Acquisition of equipment and the repair or replacement of NIH-
owned equipment.
10. Acquisition, installation, maintenance, and operation of
utility and communications systems, data processing cables, and similar
electronic equipment.
11. Packaging, storage, and disposal of hazardous substances,
including low-level radioactive, medical, and chemical waste materials
generated by intramural research activities, provided that the waste is
packed, stored, and disposed of in compliance with all applicable
Federal, State, and local laws.
12. The identification, collection, testing, and distribution of
substances and living organisms for research purposes.
13. Research and training activities that are conducted in DHHS
facilities by or under the supervision of DHHS employees, conducted
under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, as
amended, 15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq., conducted in accordance with 45 CFR
part 9.
14. The issuance of revocable licenses, use permits, and easements
allowing outside parties to use NIH facilities.
15. Filing for, obtaining, licensing, enforcing, and protecting
intellectual property rights arising from NIH-conducted or NIH-
supported research or other activities.
16. Actions taken to comply with requirements of applicable
legislation or regulations (e.g., meet emissions requirements
established pursuant to Clean Air Act).
17. The preparation and submission of proposals for legislation, or
major recommendations or reports to Congress on proposals for
legislation, that, based on reasonable judgment, will not establish or
modify programs that will have a significant effect on the quality of
the human environment.
18. The awarding, renewal, suspension, termination, or
discontinuance of collaborative research agreements, including
Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) established
under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, as
amended, 15 U.S.C. 3701 et.seq., contracts, cooperative agreements,
grants, and interagency agreements entered into by the NIH pursuant to
the Economy Act, 31 U.S.C. 1535. For those contracts, cooperative
agreements, grants, and interagency agreements that involve
construction of more than 12,000 square feet of occupiable space,
recipients of NIH funds must certify that they are in compliance with
all Federal, State, and local environmental laws and must, as
prescribed by NIH, perform all environmental reviews required by NEPA,
including preparing environmental assessments and, if necessary,
environmental impact statements, and submit these documents to the NIH
for review, approval and adoption.
19. All actions undertaken in preparing for and conducting
litigation.
20. The collection, processing, retention, evaluation and
dissemination, including publication, of data and other information,
including the acquisition and management of resources necessary to
carry out those functions.
21. Proposing and adopting guidelines.
22. Traffic management measures, including the installation and
operation of traffic control and safety devices and actions designed to
control or reduce the number of motor vehicles coming onto the NIH
Bethesda campus.
23. Actions taken to respond to public health emergencies.
C. Program Exclusions
The DHHS procedures on environmental review of agency actions
authorize the establishment of a categorical exclusion for programs
within an agency that will not have a significant effect on the human
environment. Actions taken by the following NIH organizations and their
components are normally excluded from NEPA review, subject to a review
for extraordinary circumstances. Actions taken by any successor
organizations to those listed will also be categorically excluded.
Actions taken by organizations of NIH not listed in this category may
be included in other categories of excluded actions.
1. Center for Information Technology
2. Center for Scientific Review
3. Fogarty International Center
4. Office of Administration
5. Office of Communications
6. Office of Equal Opportunity
7. Office of Education
8. Office of Community Liaison
9. Office of Loan Repayment and Scholarship
10. Office of Human Resources Management
11. Office of Financial Management
12. Office of Technology Transfer
13. Office of Program Coordination
14. National Library of Medicine
D. Extraordinary Circumstances
Consistent with CEQ's regulations, environmental review is required
for all NIH actions involving extraordinary circumstances. Following
are examples of extraordinary circumstances that may apply to specific
NIH actions.
1. Greater scope of size than other actions included within a
category.
2. A threatened violation of a Federal, State, or local law
established for protection of the environment or for public health and
safety.
3. Potential effects of the action are unique or highly uncertain.
4. Potential effect on a protected or ecologically sensitive area
of land, like a wetland or floodplain.
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5. Possible impact on property that is listed or eligible for
listing on the National Register of Historic Places or that is
otherwise of scientific, cultural, or historic importance or interest.
6. Possible impact on an endangered or threatened species.
7. Use of especially hazardous substances or processes for which
adequate and accepted controls and safeguards and unknown or not
available.
8. Substantial and reasonable controversy exists about the
environmental effects of the action.
Dated: August 11, 1999.
Ruth L. Kirschstein,
Acting Director, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 99-21700 Filed 8-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M
