Department of the Interior
Departmental Manual
Effective Date: 5/27/04
Series: Environmental Quality Programs
Part 516: National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
Chapter 1: Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality
Originating Office: Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance
516 DM 1
1.1 Purpose. This Chapter establishes the Department's policies for complying with Title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347) (NEPA); Section 2 of Executive Order 11514, Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality, as amended by Executive Order 11991; Executive Order 12114, Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions; and the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508; identified in this Part 516 as the CEQ Regulations).
1.2 Policy. It is the policy of the Department:
A. To provide leadership in protecting and enhancing those aspects of the quality of the Nation's environment which relate to or may be affected by the Department's policies, goals, programs, plans, or functions in furtherance of national environmental policy;
B. To the fullest practicable extent, to encourage public involvement in the development of Departmental plans and programs through State, local, and tribal partnerships and cooperative agreements at the beginning of the NEPA process, and to provide timely information to the public to better assist in understanding such plans and programs affecting environmental quality in accordance with the CEQ Regulations;
C. To interpret and administer, to the fullest extent possible, the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United States administered by the Department in accordance with the requirements of Sections 101 and 102 of NEPA;
D. To consider and give important weight to environmental factors, along with other societal needs, in developing proposals and making decisions in order to achieve a proper balance between the development and utilization of natural, cultural, and human resources and the protection and enhancement of environmental quality (see Section 101 of NEPA and 1508.14);
E. To consult, coordinate, and cooperate with other Federal agencies and, particularly, State, local, Alaska Native Corporations, and Indian tribal governments in the development and implementation of the Department's plans and programs affecting environmental quality and, in turn, to give consideration to those activities that succeed in best addressing State and local concerns;
F. To be innovative in natural resource protection and to use all practicable means, consistent with other essential considerations of national policy, to improve, coordinate, and direct its policies, plans, functions, programs, and resources in furtherance of national environmental goals;
G. To rigorously integrate systematic, interdisciplinary approaches into the design of all activities and to base decision making on adequate environmental data in order to identify reasonable alternatives to proposed actions that will avoid or minimize adverse environmental impacts;
H. Where necessary, to monitor, evaluate, and control activities to protect and enhance the quality of the environment and to base decision making on monitoring data and evaluation results; and
I. To cooperate with and assist the CEQ.
1.3 General Responsibilities. The following responsibilities reflect the Secretary’s decision that the officials responsible for making program decisions are also responsible for taking the requirements of NEPA into account in those decisions and will be held accountable for that responsibility:
A. Assistant Secretary - Policy, Management and Budget (AS/PMB).
(l) Is the Department's focal point on NEPA matters and is responsible for overseeing the Department's implementation of NEPA.
(2) Serves as the Department's principal contact with the CEQ.
(3) Assigns to the Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance (OEPC), the responsibilities outlined for that Office in this Part.
B. Solicitor. Is responsible for providing legal advice in the Department's compliance with NEPA.
C. Assistant Secretaries.
(1) Are responsible for compliance with NEPA, Executive Order 11514, as amended, Executive Order 12114, the CEQ Regulations, and this Part for bureaus and offices under their jurisdiction.
(2) Shall ensure that, to the fullest extent possible, the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United States administered under their jurisdiction are interpreted and administered in accordance with the requirements of NEPA.
D. Heads of Bureaus and Offices.
(1) Must comply with the provisions of NEPA, Executive Order 11514, as amended, Executive Order 12114, the CEQ Regulations, and this Part.
(2) Shall interpret and administer, to the fullest extent possible, the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United States administered under their jurisdiction in accordance with the requirements of NEPA.
(3) Shall continue to review their statutory authorities, administrative regulations, policies, programs, and procedures, including those related to loans, grants, contracts, leases, licenses, or permits, in order to identify any deficiencies or inconsistencies therein which prohibit or limit full compliance with the intent, purpose, and provisions of NEPA and, in consultation with the Solicitor and the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs, shall take or recommend, as appropriate, corrective actions as may be necessary to bring these authorities and policies into conformance with the intent, purpose, and procedures of NEPA.
(4) Shall monitor, evaluate, and control on a continuing basis their activities as needed to protect and enhance the quality of the environment. Such activities will include both those directed to controlling pollution and enhancing the environment and those designed to accomplish other program objectives which may affect the quality of the environment. They will develop programs and measures to protect and enhance environmental quality. They will assess progress in meeting the specific objectives of such activities as they affect the quality of the environment.
(5) Shall, in furtherance of public participation practices (see 1.2B, above), use consensus-based management and community-based NEPA training to the extent possible in all NEPA compliance activities. (Consensus-based management in the NEPA context is the inclusion of interested parties with an assurance for the participants that the results of their work will be given consideration by the decision maker in selecting a course of action. It is a logical outgrowth of public participation. Community-based training in the NEPA context is the training of local participants with Federal participants in the intricacies of the environmental planning and decision making effort as it relates to the local community(ies). It should de-mystify the process and inform participants how to become effectively involved.) Will ensure that the Department’s collaborative efforts under this part comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C., Appendix. (To ensure FACA compliance, each bureau and office will verify whether FACA applies, and will ensure that the FACA requirements are followed anytime the Department utilizes (i.e., manages and controls) or establishes a group to be consulted or to provide recommendations to a Departmental official.)
(6) Shall use tiered and transferred analyses to help avoid needless repetition. They will require decision makers to produce NEPA documents that save resources and reduce the public’s perception that NEPA documents merely accomplish compliance with a process and do not add to the general knowledge of environmental impacts to natural resources.
(7) Shall use adaptive management (see 516 DM 4.16) to fully comply with 40 CFR 1505.2 which requires a monitoring and enforcement program to be adopted, where applicable, for any mitigation activity.
E. Heads of Regional, Field, or Area
Offices.
(1) Must comply with the provisions of NEPA, Executive Order 11514, as amended, Executive Order 12114, the CEQ Regulations, and this Part.
(2) Shall use information obtained in the NEPA process, including pertinent information provided by State and local agencies, Indian tribal governments, and interest groups, to identify reasonable alternatives to proposed actions that will avoid or minimize adverse impacts to the human environment while improving overall environmental results.
(3) Shall monitor, evaluate, and control their activities on a continuing basis to further protect and enhance the quality of the environment.
1.4 Consideration of Environmental Values.
A. In Departmental Management.
(1) In the management of the natural, cultural, and human resources under its jurisdiction, the Department must consider and balance a wide range of economic, environmental, and societal needs at the local, regional, national, and international levels, not all of which are quantifiable in comparable terms. In considering and balancing these objectives, Departmental plans, proposals, and decisions often require recognition of complements and resolution of conflicts among interrelated uses of these natural, cultural, and human resources within technological, budgetary, and legal constraints. Various Departmental conflict resolution mechanisms are available to assist this balancing effort.
(2) Departmental project reports, program proposals, issue papers, and other decision documents must carefully analyze the various objectives, resources, and constraints, and comprehensively and objectively evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed actions and their reasonable alternatives. Where appropriate, these documents will contain or reference supporting and underlying economic, environmental, technological, and other societal analyses in language that all participants can understand and use.
(3) The underlying environmental analyses will factually, objectively, and comprehensively analyze the environmental effects of proposed actions and their reasonable alternatives. They will systematically analyze the environmental impacts of alternatives, and particularly those alternatives and measures that would reduce, mitigate or prevent adverse environmental impacts or that would enhance environmental quality. However, such an environmental analysis is not, in and of itself, a program proposal or the decision document, is not a justification of a proposal, and will not support or deprecate the overall merits of a proposal or its various alternatives.
(4) Environmental analyses shall strive to provide baseline data where possible and shall provide monitoring and evaluation tools as necessary to ensure that an activity is implemented as contemplated by the NEPA analysis. Baseline data gathered for these analyses may include pertinent social, economic, and environmental data.
(5) If proposed actions are planned for the same geographic area or are otherwise closely related, environmental analysis should be integrated to ensure adequate consideration of resource use interactions, to reduce resource conflicts, to establish baseline data, to monitor and evaluate changes in such data, to adapt actions or groups of actions accordingly, and to comply with NEPA and the CEQ Regulations. Proposals shall not be segmented in order to reduce the levels of environmental impacts reported in NEPA documents.
(6) When proposed actions involve approval processes of other agencies, the Department shall use its lead role to identify opportunities to consolidate those processes.
B. In Internally Initiated Proposals. Officials responsible for development or conduct of planning and decision making systems within the Department shall incorporate environmental planning as an integral part of these systems in order to ensure that environmental values and impacts are fully considered, facilitate any necessary documentation of those considerations, and identify reasonable alternatives in the design and implementation of activities that minimize adverse environmental impacts. An interdisciplinary approach shall be initiated at the earliest possible time to provide for consultation among all participants for each planning or decision making endeavor. This interdisciplinary approach should, to the extent possible, have the capacity to consider innovative and creative solutions from all participants.
C. In Externally Initiated Proposals. Officials responsible for the development or conduct of loan, grant, contract, lease, license, permit, or other externally initiated activities shall require applicants, to the extent necessary and practicable, to provide environmental information, analyses, and reports as an integral part of their applications. As with internally initiated proposals, officials shall encourage applicants and other interested parties to consult with the Department and provide their comments, recommendations, and suggestions for improvement.
1.5 Consultation, Coordination, and Cooperation with Other Agencies and Organizations.
A. Departmental Plans and Programs.
(1) Officials responsible for planning or implementing Departmental plans and programs will develop and utilize procedures to consult, coordinate, and cooperate with relevant State, local, and Indian tribal governments; other bureaus and Federal agencies; and public and private organizations and individuals concerning the environmental effects of these plans and programs on their jurisdictions or interests. Such efforts should, to the extent allowed by law and in accordance with FACA, include consensus-based management whenever possible. This is a planning process that incorporates direct community involvement into bureau activities from initial scoping through implementation of the bureau or office decision and, in appropriate cases, monitoring and future adaptive management measures. All bureau NEPA and planning procedures will be made available to the public.
(2) Bureaus and offices will use, to the maximum extent possible, existing notification, coordination, and review mechanisms established by the Office of Management and Budget and CEQ. However, use of these mechanisms must not be a substitute for early consultation, coordination, and cooperation with others, especially State, local, and Indian tribal governments.
(3) Bureaus and offices are encouraged to expand, develop, and use new forms of notification, coordination, and review, particularly by electronic means and the Internet. Bureaus are also encouraged to stay abreast of and use new technologies in environmental data gathering and problem solving.
B. Other Departmental Activities.
(1) Technical assistance, advice, data, and information useful in restoring, maintaining, and enhancing the quality of the environment will be made available to other Federal agencies; State, local, and Indian tribal governments; institutions; and other entities as appropriate.
(2) Information regarding existing or potential environmental problems and control methods developed as a part of research, development, demonstration, test, or evaluation activities will be made available to other Federal agencies; State, local, and Indian tribal governments; institutions; and other entities as appropriate.
(3) Recognizing the worldwide and long-range character of environmental problems and consistent with the foreign policy of the United States, appropriate support will be made available (in consultation with clearly defined interested parties including tribal governments, if applicable) to initiatives, resolutions, and programs designed to maximize international cooperation in anticipating and preventing a decline in the quality of the world environment.
C. Plans and Programs of Other Agencies
and Organizations.
(1) Officials responsible for protecting, conserving, developing, or managing resources under the Department's jurisdiction shall coordinate and cooperate with State, local, and Indian tribal governments; other bureaus and Federal agencies; and public and private organizations and individuals, and provide them with timely information concerning the environmental effects of these entities' plans and programs.
(2) Bureaus and offices are encouraged to participate early in the planning processes of other agencies and organizations in order to ensure full cooperation with, and understanding of, the Department's programs and interests in natural, cultural, and human resources.
(3) Bureaus and offices will use, to the fullest extent possible, existing Departmental review mechanisms to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and to avoid confusion by other organizations.
(4) Bureaus and offices will work closely with other Federal agencies to ensure that similar or related proposed actions in the same geographic area are fully evaluated to determine if agency analyses can be integrated so that one NEPA compliance document can be used by all for their individual permitting and licensing needs.
1.6 Public Involvement.
A. Bureaus and offices, in accordance with 301 DM 2 and this part, will develop and implement procedures to ensure the fullest practicable provision of timely public information and understanding of their plans and programs with environmental impacts including information on the environmental impacts of alternative courses of action. This is to include public involvement in the development of NEPA analyses and documents.
B. These procedures will include, wherever appropriate, provision for public meetings in order to obtain the views of interested parties, newsletters, and status reports of NEPA compliance activities. Public information shall include all necessary policies and procedures concerning plans and programs in a readily accessible, consistent format.
C. Bureaus and offices will also coordinate and collaborate with State and local agencies and Indian tribal governments in developing and using similar procedures for informing the public concerning their activities affecting the quality of the environment.
1.7 Mandate.
A. This Part provides Department-wide instructions
for complying with NEPA, Executive Orders 11514, as amended by 11991
(Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality) and 12114 (Environmental
Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions), and the CEQ Regulations. The provisions of Part 516 are intended to
establish guidelines to be followed by the Department and its bureaus, services
and offices. Part 516 is not intended
to, nor does it, create any right, benefit, or trust responsibility,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by any person or party
against the
B. The Department hereby adopts the CEQ Regulations implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA [Sec. 102(2)(C)] except where compliance would be inconsistent with other statutory requirements. In the case of any discrepancies among these procedures and the NEPA statute; Executive Orders 11514, 11991, and 12114; or the mandatory provisions of the CEQ Regulations, the laws, Executive Orders, and regulations shall govern.
C. Instructions supplementing the CEQ Regulations are provided in Chapters 2-7 of this Part. Citations in brackets refer to the CEQ Regulations.
D. Instructions specific to each bureau are found in Chapters 8 through 15. This portion of the manual may expand or contract depending on the number of bureaus existing at any particular time. In addition, bureaus may prepare handbooks or other technical guidance for their personnel on how to apply this Part to principal programs. In the case of any apparent discrepancies between these procedures and bureau handbooks or technical guidance, 516 DM 2-7 shall govern.