Establishment by the National Institutes of Health of Categorical Exclusions Under the National Environmental Policy Act

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

[[Page 45559]]

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