[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: [email protected].

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.

[[Page 45560]]

    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