[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34309-34310]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16905]


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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE


Protocol for Categorical Exclusions Under the National 
Environmental Policy Act for Programs Funded by the American Recovery 
and Reinvestment Act

AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.

ACTION: Notice of interim final action and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service (the 
Corporation) has adopted an interim final protocol that categorically 
excludes national and community service programs funded under the 
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) from the 
requirement of preparing environmental assessments or environmental 
impact statements under the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 
U.S.C. 432 et seq. (NEPA), because the programs do not individually or 
cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment. Notice 
of the Corporation's protocol satisfies the requirements of the Council 
for Environmental Quality's (CEQ) NEPA regulations and facilitates 
reporting requirements under the Recovery Act. By adopting this 
protocol, the Corporation can better assure that urgently needed 
Recovery Act financial assistance is disbursed to eligible entities in 
a timely manner and that such funds are used and reported upon in 
accordance with the Recovery Act's NEPA compliance provision. While 
this protocol is immediately effective upon publication, all comments 
will be reviewed and given full consideration in determining whether 
amendments to it are appropriate.

DATES: Submit comments on or before August 14, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Irshad Abdal-Haqq, Associate General Counsel, Corporation 
for National and Community Service, 1201 New York Avenue, NW., Room 
10906, Washington, DC 20525; telefax at (202) 606-3467; TDD at (202) 
682-5496; or by electronic mail at [email protected].

[[Page 34310]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irshad Abdal-Haqq at (202) 606-6675.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Section 1609 of the Recovery Act requires 
the President to report to Congress every 90 days on the compliance 
with NEPA for projects and activities funded by the Recovery Act. To 
support this reporting requirement, agencies must, in turn, report to 
the CEQ on NEPA compliance for projects and activities funded by the 
Recovery Act. NEPA requires Federal agencies to prepare environmental 
assessments and environmental impact statements for major Federal 
actions that may ``significantly affect the quality of the human 
environment.'' NEPA requirements apply to Federal projects, decisions, 
or actions, including grants, that might have an impact on the quality 
of the human environment. NEPA also established the CEQ, which issued 
regulations implementing NEPA's procedural provisions. Among other 
things, the CEQ NEPA regulations require Federal agencies to adopt 
implementing procedures to supplement the regulations, and to establish 
and use ``categorical exclusions'' to define categories of actions that 
do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the 
human environment. A categorically excluded action does not require the 
preparation of an environmental assessment or environmental impact 
statement before it is carried out. The Corporation plans to develop 
and publish proposed NEPA procedures covering all of its programs in 
the near future. After considering comments submitted in response to 
this notice, this protocol for categorical exclusions will be included 
in the forthcoming proposed procedures.

Environmental Impact of Corporation Programs

    Title VIII, Division A, of the Recovery Act provided additional 
funding to the Corporation's preexisting AmeriCorps grantees and to 
support VISTA programs. Among other things, the Corporation funds 
grants and activities to support national and community service 
activities that meet the nation's unmet human, educational, 
environmental, and public safety needs. The Corporation does not fund 
construction grants or other actions that would potentially have 
significant environmental effects. Therefore, Corporation-funded 
activities and programs that were in existence when the Recovery Act 
was enacted were not required to prepare environmental assessments or 
environmental impact statements as set out in the NEPA regulations (40 
CFR part 1500). Consequently, the interim final protocol adopted by the 
Corporation identifies activities carried out under programs authorized 
under the national service as being categorically excluded from having 
to prepare environmental assessments and environmental impact 
statements. Note, however, that the interim final protocol also 
includes a procedure for reviewing extraordinary circumstances 
involving a specific grantee's proposed service activities to ensure 
they do not have the potential for a significant impact on the 
environment and are therefore appropriately categorically excluded from 
further environmental review for NEPA purposes.
    For the reasons set out above, the Corporation for National and 
Community Service adopts the following interim final protocol:

Protocol for the Categorical Exclusion of Activities Funded by the 
Corporation for National and Community Service

    Purpose: Establishment of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
categorical exclusions for national and community service activities 
and programs supported by the Corporation for National and Community 
Service (Corporation) and a process for addressing extraordinary 
circumstances.

Categorical Exclusions

    The Corporation follows the regulations of the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) in complying with the requirements of NEPA. 
Pursuant to those regulations, the Corporation determines the following 
classes of activities as being categorically excluded:
     Providing administrative and other support duties or 
planning or performing community service activities in any approved 
national and community service program authorized under the national 
services laws or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(Recovery Act). These activities include: Tutoring and mentoring 
children and youth; working in afterschool programs; assisting out of 
work adults to find jobs; assisting with community development 
projects; managing community volunteer programs; providing health care 
support services; repairing or renovating housing; helping to erect 
homes for low-income families; and assisting with wildlife and land 
conservation programs.

Extraordinary Circumstances

    The following types of activity require the review and approval of 
the Corporation and may result in the requirement for an environmental 
assessment or environmental impact statement:
    1. Any activity for which there is a reasonable likelihood of 
significant effects on public health, safety or the environment 
(direct, indirect or cumulative).
    2. The imposition of uncertain or unique environmental risks that 
have not been pre-approved and reviewed under NEPA.
    3. Greater scope or size than is normal for this category of 
action.

Process for Resolving Extraordinary Circumstances

    An appropriate Corporation representative (usually a program 
officer or grant officer) will contact the prospective grantee to 
clarify the full scope and nature of a proposed activity in order to 
determine whether it could in fact have a significant impact on the 
environment. If the Corporation determines that a proposed activity 
could have a significant impact on the environment, the Corporation 
will work with the prospective grantee to prepare for the Corporation 
the necessary analyses in accordance with the CEQ NEPA regulations 
regarding environmental assessments and environment impact statements 
and include any appropriate mitigation conditions for inclusion in the 
grant or other agreement prior to making a decision to provide the 
funding.

Responsibilities

    The Corporation's Chief Financial Officer or his or her authorized 
representative has the responsibility for assuring that all Corporation 
activities and programs, including those supported by the Recovery Act, 
are NEPA compliant. This includes coordinating the multidisciplinary 
review of a possible extraordinary circumstance, which involves 
individuals with legal, scientific, and other appropriate expertise, 
and working with prospective grantees in preparing appropriate NEPA 
analyses.

    Dated: July 10, 2009.
William Anderson,
Acting Chief Financial Officer, Corporation for National and Community 
Service.
[FR Doc. E9-16905 Filed 7-14-09; 8:45 am]
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