[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 141 (Monday, July 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44190-44191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15824]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Notice of Availability of the Final Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement of the Department of Veterans Affairs Housing Loan 
Program

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announces the 
availability of the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 
(PEIS) for VA's Housing Loan Program (HLP). The Final PEIS identifies, 
analyzes, and

[[Page 44191]]

documents the potential physical, environmental, cultural, 
socioeconomic, and cumulative impacts of continued administration and 
operation of VA's HLP. The comprehensive HLP, which is managed by VA's 
Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), administers VA-guaranteed 
housing loan benefits and other housing-related benefits that assist 
eligible Veterans, surviving spouses, active-duty personnel, Selected 
Reservists, and National Guardsmen (collectively referred to as 
Veterans) in purchasing, constructing, repairing, adapting, or 
improving a home. In preparing the Final PEIS, VA has considered public 
comments received on the Draft PEIS, which was published in July 2021.

DATES: VA will publish a Record of Decision no sooner than 30 days 
after publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Notice 
of Availability for this Final PEIS in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: The Final PEIS is available at the VA website at the 
following link: https://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/environmental_impact.asp. Printed copies of the document may be 
obtained by contacting VA at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Byrum, Lead Management Analyst, 
Loan Guaranty Service, Veterans Benefit Administration, Department of 
Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420, 202-632-
8862 (this is not a toll-free number) or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Final PEIS was developed pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 
4321, et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations for 
implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), and 
VA's NEPA regulations titled ``Environmental Effects of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs Actions'' (38 CFR 26).
    The most significant element of the HLP is the provision of housing 
benefits that assist eligible Veterans in financing the purchase, 
construction, repair, or improvement of a home for their personal 
occupancy. See 38 U.S.C. 3701 et seq. VBA provides Federal assistance 
in the form of loans made, insured, or guaranteed by VA. VBA is also 
responsible for the management, marketing, and disposition of real 
estate-owned properties that VA acquires following the foreclosure of 
certain VA-guaranteed loans and loans held in VA's portfolio. Under the 
HLP, VA also provides direct loans to Native American Veterans to 
purchase homes on trust, tribal, or communally owned lands, and the HLP 
extends grants for home adaptations to Veterans with service-connected 
disabilities through the Specially Adapted Housing program. The HLP 
provides what can be, for some Veterans, their sole opportunity to 
obtain crucial housing loans and grants.
    Through the PEIS, VA evaluated the potential physical, 
environmental, cultural, socioeconomic, and cumulative effects of the 
HLP to assist and inform future agency planning and decision making 
related to the HLP. Environmental topics addressed in the Final PEIS 
include the following: aesthetics; air quality; biological resources; 
cultural resources; floodplains, wetlands, and coastal zones: geology 
and soils; hydrology and water quality; infrastructure and community 
services; land use and planning; noise; and socioeconomics and 
environmental justice. The PEIS also identifies and analyzes potential 
cumulative impacts, which are the potential incremental impacts on the 
environment resulting from continued administration and operation of 
the HLP in combination with other past, present, and reasonably 
foreseeable future actions from other relevant Federal and non-Federal 
programs.
    The PEIS is atypical in that it addresses an existing program, and 
VA has no specific or immediate need to change its operational 
structure or procedures to address environmental impacts. Furthermore, 
the making of loan guaranties, direct loans, and grants do not 
typically result in direct environmental impacts. In this case, the 
primary environmental impacts of concern for VA would be the potential 
indirect impacts from homeowner actions and the potentially 
significant, cumulative impacts of small incremental actions on local 
and regional resources.
    The Final PEIS considers comments made on the Draft PEIS that 
officially began on July 16, 2021 and ended on August 30, 2021. Based 
on the information provided in the Final PEIS, VA has identified the 
continued operation and active management of the HLP as the preferred 
alternative.

Signing Authority

    Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, approved this 
document on June 6, 2022, and authorized the undersigned to sign and 
submit the document to the Office of the Federal Register for 
publication electronically as an official document of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.

Jeffrey M. Martin,
Assistant Director, Office of Regulation Policy & Management, Office of 
General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2022-15824 Filed 7-22-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P