[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 231 (Tuesday, December 2, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 67437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29873]


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COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY


National Environmental Policy Act Task Force; Meeting

AGENCY: Council on Environmental Quality.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) established a 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Task Force to review the 
current NEPA implementing practices and procedures in the following 
areas: Technology and information management; federal and 
intergovernmental collaboration; programmatic analyses and subsequent 
tiered documents; and adaptive management and monitoring. In addition, 
the NEPA Task Force reviewed other NEPA implementation issues such as 
the level of detail included in agencies' procedures and documentation 
for promulgating categorical exclusions; the structure and 
documentation of environmental assessments; and other implementation 
practices that would benefit federal agencies.
    ``The Task Force Report to the Council on Environmental Quality--
Modernizing NEPA Implementation'' was published and presented to CEQ on 
September 24, 2003. The Report contains recommendations designed to 
improve federal agency decision making by modernizing the NEPA process. 
To further the work of the NEPA Task Force, CEQ is holding a series of 
regional public roundtables to raise public awareness of the NEPA Task 
Force draft recommendations and discuss the recommendations and their 
implementation. The Southern Regional Roundtable will be held on 
December 11 and 12 at the historic Cadre Building, 149 Monroe Ave, 
Memphis, Tennessee. Information about the location is at http://www.cadrebuilding.com/. The Memphis Roundtable is co-hosted by the 
Southern Environmental Law Center, Duke Environmental Leadership 
Program at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and 
Earth Sciences, and The Environmental Policy Information Center at 
Jacksonville State University. Representatives from important 
constituent groups that have worked on NEPA issues have been invited to 
participate in a discussion of the recommendations. Announcements of 
future roundtables will be published on the NEPA Task Force web site 
and in the Federal Register.

DATES: The southern regional public roundtable will be held on December 
11 and 12. The December 11 session will begin at 9 a.m. and interested 
members of the public will have an opportunity to present their views 
at 3:30 p.m. following the roundtable discussion. That session will end 
in the evening after the publics' views have been presented. The 
session on December 12 will begin at 9 a.m. and interested members of 
the public will have an opportunity to present their views at 11 a.m. 
following the roundtable discussion.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties can review the Task Force report via the 
CEQ Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/ or the NEPA Task Force 
Web site at http://www.ceq.eh.doe.gov/nft/. If you would like a printed 
copy, please mail a request to The NEPA Task Force, 722 Jackson Place, 
NW., Washington, DC 20585, or contact Bill Perhach at (202) 395-0826 to 
request a copy.

    Dated: September 25, 2003.
James L. Connaughton,
Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality.
[FR Doc. 03-29873 Filed 12-1-03; 8:45 am]
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