9629

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9629
• Author: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Title: Selected NEPA Documents.
• USFW Year: 1993.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
56
Environmental Quality Part 550 National Environmental Policy Act
Chanter 3 Documerrting and Imolementino Decisions 550 FW 3 1
3.1 Purpose. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)
personnel involved in making and implementing
decisions on an action are to establish an appropriate
administrative record of the Service's decision. This
chapter establishes procedures to ensure that decisions
and their implementation are made in accordance with
the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ)
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural
Requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) (40 CFR 1505} and Department of the Interior
(Department) NEPA procedures (516 DM 1-6).
(4) Implementing the Action in the ROD. The action may
be initiated immediately upon signature of the ROD by the
appropriate Service decisionmaker. The Service must
substantially comply with the decision made in the ROD.
The actions, terms, and conditions stated in the ROD are
enforceable by Federal agencies and private parties. The
ROD can be used to compel compliance with or execution
of mitigation, monitoring, and enforcement measures
identified therein (40 CFR 1505.3). The Service should
make a diligent effort to involve the public in the
implementation of the action (40 CFR 1506.6).
3.2 Scope. This chapter addresses the Service's
preparation of the record of decision (ROD), finding of
no significant impact (FONSq, and environmental
action statement (EAS); and the implementation and
monitoring of the Service's decision. Refer to the
NEPA Reference Handbook, authorized in 550 FW 1.7,
for full texts of various NEPA authorities and checklists
and samples for the preparation of environmental
documents; and 550 FW 2, for public review
procedures for the notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an.
environmental impact statement (EIS), the EIS, and
environmental assessment (EA).
3.3 NEPA Decision Documents.
A, Record of Decision (ROD).
(1 } Making the Decision. Following completion of an
EIS (see 550 FW 2-, the Service shall prepare a ROD.
The ROD is a concise public record of the decision,
which may be integrated into any other record
prepared by the Service.
(2) Content of the ROD. The content of the ROD is to
be the same as described in 40 CFR 1505.2. Any
conditions adopted for monitoring or enforcement must
be addressed in the ROD (40 CFR 1505.3). Exhibit 1
is an example of a ROD. Exhibit 2 is an example of a
notice of availability (NOA) of the ROD in the Federal
Resister.
(3) Processing end Distributing the ROD. The decision
to implement an action cannot be made sooner than 30
days following publication by the Environmental
Protection Agency of the notice of availability of the
final EIS in the Federal R ister. After 30 days, the
ROD, signed by the Service decisionmaker )see 550
FW 1.6), shall be made available to the affected public
by appropriate public notice. Appropriate public notice
can include publication in the Federal Register, or by
other means to ensure that the ROD is made available
to the affected public [40 CFR 1506.6(b)1.
B. Finding of No Significarrt Impact (EONS!)
11) Making the Decision. The EA serves as the basis for
determining whether implementation of the proposed
action would constitute a major Federal action
significarrtly affecting the quality of the human
environment. If a positive finding is made, an EIS is
required. tf a negative finding is made, a FONSI is
prepared and signed. Either finding will be based on the
information presented in the text of the EA. The text of
the EA should provide sufficient factual material to
support the finding. Determinations of major Federal
actions and significant effects on the human environment
are subject to varying interpretation, and no hard-and-fast
rules are available to label an action conclusively one way
or the other. The need to prepare an EIS is a matter of
professional judgment requiring consideration of all issues
in question, particularly all information documented in the
EA.
f2) Criteria to Assist in Determining the Need to Prepare
an EIS. It is important to be as objective as possible when
making a determination on whether to prepare an EIS. For
general guidance on what may constitute a "major Federal
action" and "significant effect," refer to 40 CFR 1508. t 8
and 1508.27, respectively. In addition, one or more of
the following criteria, depending on the severity and
duration of effects, may trigger the preparation of an EIS.
(a1 Controversy over environmental effects (e.g., major
scientific or technical disputes or inconsistencies over one
or more environments! effects).
(b) Change in Service policy having a major positive or
negative environmental effect.
(c) Precedent-setting actions with wide-reaching or long-
term implications le.g., special use permits for off-road
vehicles, mineral extraction, new road construction).
(d) Major alterations of natural environmental quality, that
may exceed either local, State, or Federal environmental
standards.
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