[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22695-22697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06748]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket Number: 240325-0085]
RIN 0660-XC061


Adoption of First Responder Network Authority Categorical 
Exclusions Under the National Environmental Policy Act

AGENCY: National Information and Technology Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Information and Technology Administration (NTIA) 
has identified categorical exclusions (CEs) established by the First 
Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), an independent 
authority within NTIA, that cover categories of actions under the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that NTIA proposes to take. 
This notice identifies the FirstNet Authority CEs and NTIA's categories 
of proposed actions for which it intends to use FirstNet Authority's 
CEs and describes the consultation between the agencies.

DATES: The CEs identified below are available for NTIA to use for its 
proposed actions effective April 2, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amanda Pereira, NTIA, telephone number 
202-834-4016, email [email protected].

[[Page 22696]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

NEPA and CEs

    Congress enacted the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 
4321-4347, (NEPA) in order to encourage productive and enjoyable 
harmony between humans and the environment, recognizing the profound 
impact of human activity and the critical importance of restoring and 
maintaining environmental quality to the overall welfare of humankind. 
42 U.S.C. 4321, 4331. NEPA seeks to ensure that agencies consider the 
environmental effects of their proposed major actions in their 
decision-making processes and inform and involve the public in that 
process. NEPA created the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which 
promulgated NEPA implementing regulations, 40 CFR parts 1500 through 
1508 (CEQ regulations).
    Under the CEQ regulations, to comply with NEPA, agencies determine 
the appropriate level of review of any major Federal action--an 
environmental impact statement (EIS), environmental assessment (EA), or 
categorical exclusion (CE). 40 CFR 1501.3. If a proposed action is 
likely to have significant environmental effects, the agency must 
prepare an EIS and document its decision in a record of decision. 40 
CFR part 1502, 1505.2. If the proposed action is not likely to have 
significant environmental effects or the effects are unknown, the 
agency may instead prepare an environmental assessment (EA), which 
involves a more concise analysis and process than an EIS. 40 CFR 
1501.5. Following the EA, the agency may conclude that the action will 
have no significant effects and document that conclusion in a finding 
of no significant impact. 40 CFR 1501.6. However, if, after the 
analysis, the agency concludes that the action is likely to have 
significant effects, then an EIS is required.
    Under NEPA and the CEQ regulations, a Federal agency also can 
establish CEs--categories of actions that the agency has determined 
normally do not significantly affect the quality of the human 
environment--in their agency NEPA procedures. 42 U.S.C. 4336e(1); 40 
CFR 1501.4, 1507.3(e)(2)(ii), 1508.1(d). If an agency determines that a 
CE could apply to a proposed action, it then evaluates the proposed 
action for extraordinary circumstances in which a normally excluded 
action may have a significant effect. 40 CFR 1501.4(b). If no 
extraordinary circumstances are present, the agency may apply the CE to 
the proposed action without preparing an EA or EIS. 42 U.S.C. 
4336(a)(2), 40 CFR 1501.4. If extraordinary circumstances are present, 
the agency nevertheless may still apply the categorical exclusion to 
the proposed action if it determines that there are circumstances that 
lessen the impacts or other conditions sufficient to avoid significant 
effects.
    Section 109 of NEPA, enacted as part of the Fiscal Responsibility 
Act of 2023, allows a Federal agency to adopt another Federal agency's 
CEs for its own proposed actions. 42 U.S.C. 4336c. To use another 
agency's CEs under section 109, the ``adopting agency'' must: identify 
the relevant CEs listed in the NEPA procedures of another agency (the 
``establishing agency'') that covers the adopting agency's category of 
proposed actions or related actions; consult with the establishing 
agency to ensure that the proposed adoption of the CEs for a category 
of actions is appropriate; identify to the public the CEs that the 
adopting agency plans to use for its proposed actions; and document 
adoption of the CE. 42 U.S.C. 4336c. NTIA has prepared this notice to 
meet these statutory requirements and identify to the public the 
FirstNet Authority CEs that NTIA is adopting.

NTIA's Programs

    NTIA is the Executive Branch agency that is principally responsible 
for advising the President on telecommunications and information policy 
issues. NTIA's programs and policies focus largely on expanding 
broadband internet access and adoption in the United States, expanding 
the use of spectrum by all users, and ensuring that the internet 
remains an engine for continued innovation and economic growth. NTIA is 
engaged in a range of efforts to increase internet access and adoption.
    In November 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and 
Jobs Act (``IIJA'').\1\ The law provides NTIA with $48.2 billion to 
establish five new broadband grant programs and to further implement 
the previously established Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program 
(``TBCP''). The largest new program is the Broadband Equity, Access, 
and Deployment Program (BEAD), which seeks to expand high-speed 
internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, and 
adoption programs in all 50 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, the 
U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands.
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    \1\ Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Public Law 117-58 
(2021).
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II. FirstNet Authority Categorical Exclusions

    NTIA has identified the following CEs listed in appendix B of the 
FirstNet Authority's Procedures for Implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act.\2\ Each of the FirstNet Authority CEs 
includes conditions on the scope or application of the CE within the 
text of the numbered paragraphs listed below. Under each CE, NTIA has 
described categories of proposed actions for which NTIA contemplates 
using the CE at this time; NTIA may apply the CEs identified below to 
other activities where NTIA determines the CE covers the activity and 
no extraordinary circumstances are present.
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    \2\ https://www.firstnet.gov/sites/default/files/FirstNet_Implementing_Procedures_January_2018.pdf.
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    1. [B.3] Construction of buried and aerial telecommunications 
lines, cables, and related facilities.
    Potential application to NTIA activities:
     Financial assistance for construction or modification of 
aerial or buried fiber optic telecommunications equipment, including, 
but not limited to, fiber optic cable, transmission poles, including 
pole replacement, equipment sheds, and utility huts.
     Construction or modification of aerial or buried fiber 
optic telecommunications equipment at NTIA facilities, including, but 
not limited to, fiber optic cable, transmission poles, including pole 
replacement, equipment sheds, and utility huts.
    2. [B.4.] Changes to existing transmission lines that involve less 
than 20 percent pole replacement, or the complete rebuilding of 
existing distribution lines within the same right-of-way. Changes to 
existing transmission lines that require 20 percent or greater pole 
replacement will be considered the same as new construction.
     Financial assistance for modification of existing 
transmission lines, including addition of aerial fiber optic cables to 
electric power lines and burial of fiber optic cables in existing 
powerlines or pipelines.
     Modification of existing transmission lines at NTIA 
facilities, including addition of aerial fiber optic cables to electric 
power lines and burial of fiber optic cables in existing powerlines or 
pipelines.
    3. [B.7.] Changes or additions to telecommunication sites, 
substations,

[[Page 22697]]

switching stations, telecommunications switching or multiplexing 
centers, buildings, or small structures requiring new physical 
disturbance or fencing of less than one acre (0.4 hectare).
    Potential application to NTIA activities:
     Financial assistance for modifications to structures and 
sites supporting telecommunications service necessary to connect 
unserved or underserved locations.
     Modifications to NTIA facilities supporting 
telecommunications service necessary to connect NTIA facilities.
    4. [B.12.] Rebuilding of power lines or telecommunications cables 
where road or highway reconstruction requires the Applicant to relocate 
the lines either within or adjacent to the new road or highway easement 
or right-of-way.
    Potential application to NTIA activities:
     Financial assistance for construction or modification of 
aerial or buried fiber optic telecommunications equipment in or 
adjacent to transportation rights of way, including reconstruction of 
power or telecommunications lines to provide broadband service.
    5. [B.13.] Phase or voltage conversions, reconductoring, or 
upgrading of existing electric distribution lines or telecommunications 
facilities.
    Potential application to NTIA activities:
     Financial assistance for construction or modification of 
aerial or buried fiber optic cable to rural and underserved locations, 
including retrofitting, upgrading, or modernization of existing 
infrastructure when necessary to provide broadband service.
    6. [B.15.] Deployment of Cells on Wheels, Systems on Wheels, or 
another deployable architecture intended for temporary placement (no 
more than two years) on an impervious surface.
    Potential application to NTIA activities:
     Financial assistance for deployment and maintenance of 
mobile communication systems, including ground-based and aerial 
deployable technologies, to provide temporary broadband service in 
areas where such service is not available, including areas where 
infrastructure has been damaged by natural disaster.
     Deployment and maintenance of mobile communication systems 
at NTIA facilities, for testing purposes at temporary locations, or as 
needed in areas where infrastructure has been damaged by natural 
disaster, including ground-based and aerial deployable technologies, to 
provide temporary broadband service.

III. Consideration of Extraordinary Circumstances

    If an agency determines that a CE covers a proposed action, the 
agency must evaluate the proposed action for extraordinary 
circumstances in which a normally excluded action may have a 
significant effect. 40 CFR 1501.4(b). In a separate Federal Register 
notice concurrent with this notice, NTIA is publishing interim NEPA 
implementing procedures and establishes 30 categorical exclusions and a 
list of the extraordinary circumstances it considers in determining 
whether to apply a categorical exclusion. The CEs adopted from the 
FirstNet Authority will supplement NTIA's newly established CEs and the 
CEs that NTIA currently applies to its actions. NTIA will consider its 
newly established extraordinary circumstances, as well as the 
extraordinary circumstances established in the FirstNet Authority's 
procedures, in assessing whether a proposed action has the potential to 
result in significant effects, and if so, whether there are 
circumstances that lessen the impacts or other conditions sufficient to 
avoid significant effects, consistent with 40 CFR 1501.4(b). If NTIA 
cannot apply a CE to a particular proposed action due to extraordinary 
circumstances, NTIA will prepare an EA or EIS, consistent with 40 CFR 
1501.4(b)(2), or determine if the action is covered under an existing 
NEPA document.

IV. Consultation With FirstNet Authority and Determination of 
Appropriateness

    The FirstNet Authority is an independent authority within NTIA, 
established by the Middle-Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 
to deploy and operate a nationwide public safety broadband network.\3\ 
Similar to NTIA's grant programs, the FirstNet Authority's mandate 
includes planning and constructing telecommunication and broadband 
infrastructure across the United States and its territories. The 
specific activities that NTIA now anticipates funding are comparable to 
the FirstNet Authority project implementation activities in both scope 
and geographic span.
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    \3\ 47 U.S.C. 1401.
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    Over the past year, NTIA consulted with the FirstNet Authority on 
the applicability of the FirstNet Authority's NEPA implementing 
procedures to NTIA's proposed actions and took public comment on a 
proposal to follow the FirstNet Authority's procedures on an interim 
basis.\4\ In recent months, NTIA and the FirstNet Authority have 
consulted on the appropriateness of NTIA adopting certain FirstNet 
Authority CEs in response to public comments NTIA received noting the 
applicability of certain FirstNet Authority CEs to NTIA's proposed 
actions. That recent consultation has included a review of the FirstNet 
Authority's experience developing and applying its CEs. The agencies 
determined that NTIA's proposed actions are similar to the projects 
that the FirstNet Authority funds (i.e., communications infrastructure) 
and that the impacts of NTIA's proposed actions will be similar to the 
impacts of FirstNet Authority projects, which are not significant 
absent extraordinary circumstances. Therefore, NTIA has determined that 
its proposed use of the CEs as described in this notice would be 
appropriate because the categories of actions for which NTIA plans to 
use the FirstNet Authority CEs are similar to FirstNet Authority's use 
of the CEs.
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    \4\ 88 FR 19089 (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/03/30/2023-06575/national-environmental-policy-act-procedures-and-categorical-exclusions).
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V. Conclusion

    This notice documents adoption of the FirstNet Authority CEs listed 
above in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 4336c(4), and they are available for 
use by NTIA, effective immediately.

    Dated: March 26, 2024.
Sean Conway,
Acting Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-06748 Filed 4-1-24; 8:45 am]
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