The US Department of Energy is the first federal agency to provide machine-readable exclusions to CEQ’s Explorer, which lists more than 2,100 exclusions from over 80 agencies.
The update could help agencies find exclusions relevant to federally reviewed nonresidential projects, but time savings are unquantified.
The Department of Energy is the first federal agency to provide machine-readable categorical exclusions to the Council on Environmental Quality’s updated Categorical Exclusion Explorer, CEQ announced Nov. 5.
The live data feed replaces manual updates and is intended to help agencies identify exclusions that may apply to projects. The Explorer lists more than 2,100 categorical exclusions from over 80 federal agencies, according to CEQ.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires Federal agencies "to consider the environmental effects of proposed major Federal actions prior to making decisions."
CEQ defines "categorical exclusion as a category of actions that a Federal agency has determined normally does not significantly affect the quality of the human environment within the meaning of section 4332(2)(C) of 42 USC." It adds that the tool is an aid in finding categorical exclusions across federal agencies.
CEQ did not quantify whether the update will shorten review times. Other agencies are expected to join the pilot.
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