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

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D. Service reviews and comments on other agency environmental documents
should accomplish the following objectives.
(1) Encourage agencies to contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of
fish and wildlife values during their actions.
(2) Assure that all potential beneficial and adverse effects of a proposed
action are recognized by the lead agency, and are understandably presented to
the general public and decisionmakers.
(3) Assure that practicable alternatives less damaging to fish and
wildlife resources are adequately described, realistically evaluated, and
adopted where feasible.
(4) Assure that mitigation measures to offset unavoidable losses are
adequately developed and included as part of the preferred alternative.
Service mitigation recommendations and comments on other agency mitigation
plans should be consistent with 501 FW 2, Service Mitigation Policy.
3.2 Administrative Procedures.
A. Department's Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance (OEPC)
(1) OEPC, under the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget
(AS/PMB), is responsible for managing and coordinating DOI review of
environmental documents and other project reviews (112 DM 4). One of
OEPC's primary responsibilities is to ensure that a consolidated, single,
consistent DOI response is prepared for Departmental signature. In
addition to the Washington Office staff, OEPC has Regional Environmental
Officers (REO) that handle many regional problems, serve on interagency
task forces and regional commissions, and are authorized to 'sign DOI NEPA
comment letters to other agencies on items of mainly regional concern.
OEPC receives draft final EISs from Federal agencies outside DOI and
assigns them for review to those DOI bureaus having jurisdiction or special
expertise regarding a proposed action and its impacts.
(2) OEPC also receives and distributes for review various other
environmental documents, such as environmental reports, proposed
regulations, and Department of Transportation section 4(fj statements.
OEPC does a preliminary review of the documents and determines which
bureau, by virtue of jurisdiction or special expertise, will be "lead,"
that is, will have the responsibility of consolidating bureaus' comments
into a single response for signature of either the REO or OEPC. In some
cases the lead is retained by OEPC, and bureau comments are consolidated in
Washington by OEPC staff for OEPC or AS/PMB signature.
B. Service Environmental Coordination Activities. Specific Service
redelegations to the Assistant Directors and Regional Directors are
described in 032 FW. DHC has been delegated the responsibility for
assigning lead within the Service for review and comment on OEPC-controlled
documents. If it appears that an error in assignment has been made, or
that another Service office has more expertise and should have been
assigned lead, DHC should be contacted immediately. DHC will make all