80 FR 26147 - Treasury Directive 75-02 and Directive Publication 75-02, Department of the Treasury National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Program

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 87 (May 6, 2015)

The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the Department of the Treasury (Treasury or the Department) is issuing its final policy and procedures for implementing the National Environment Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and related executive orders and requirements. This Notice adopts the proposed Directive and accompanying guidelines, published on August 22, 2014, with minor revisions.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 26147]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10593]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Treasury Directive 75-02 and Directive Publication 75-02, 
Department of the Treasury National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
Program

AGENCY: Office of Environment, Health, and Safety, Departmental 
Offices, Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the 
Department of the Treasury (Treasury or the Department) is issuing its 
final policy and procedures for implementing the National Environment 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and related executive orders and 
requirements. This Notice adopts the proposed Directive and 
accompanying guidelines, published on August 22, 2014, with minor 
revisions.

DATES: This Directive will be effective on May 6, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Cain, Acting Director, Treasury 
Operations, at 202-622-0074 (not a toll-free number) or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal 
agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision-making 
processes by considering the environmental impacts of their proposed 
actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions. The Department's 
final Directive and accompanying guidelines establish a policy and 
procedures to ensure the integration of environmental considerations 
into the activities of the Department of the Treasury. A copy of the 
final Directive is available at http://www.treasury.gov/about/role-of-treasury/orders-directives/Pages/directives-numeric.aspx.
    The Directive outlines roles and responsibilities for compliance 
with NEPA and establishes a framework for the balanced and proactive 
consideration of NEPA in the planning and execution of Treasury 
activities. Treasury's responsibilities include managing federal 
finances; collecting taxes, and paying bills of the United States; 
producing currency and coinage; managing government accounts and the 
public debt; supervising national banks and thrift institutions; 
advising on domestic and international financial, monetary, economic, 
trade and tax policy; enforcing federal finance and tax laws; and 
investigating and prosecuting tax evaders, counterfeiters, and forgers.
    The final Directive includes processes for preparing Environmental 
Assessments, Findings of No Significant Impact, and Environmental 
Impact Statements. It also includes Categorical Exclusions (CE) 
identifying the actions that normally do not have the potential for 
significant environmental impacts. The Department will use this 
Directive in conjunction with NEPA, the Council on Environmental 
Quality regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508, and other pertinent 
environmental laws, regulations, and Executive Orders.

Changes

    The Department published a draft Directive (including an associated 
Directive Publication), and a request for comments in the Federal 
Register on August 22, 2014. 79 FR 49834. The draft Directive proposed 
Treasury policy for meeting the requirements under NEPA, including a 
proposed list of categories of Treasury actions that absent 
extraordinary circumstances are excluded from further consideration in 
an Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement, known as 
categorical exclusions.
    The Department received three comments on the proposed Directive 
during the comment period. After considering the comments received, the 
Department now adopts the proposed Directive with minor revisions to 
help clarify the categorical exclusion and extraordinary circumstance 
analysis and documentation requirements and procedures. Specifically, 
the Department revised draft Directive Publication Section 7.a to 
eliminate language that could have suggested that Treasury bureau heads 
had authority to establish categorical exclusions in addition to those 
set forth in Appendix 1 of the Directive Publication.
    The Department further revised draft Directive Publication Section 
7.a to state more clearly and consistently that an extraordinary 
circumstance exists and will preclude reliance on a CE if the 
conditions specified in the extraordinary circumstances create the 
potential for a significant environmental impact.
    Treasury also revised draft Directive Section 7.b., which, as 
originally worded, would have suggested that documentation was required 
whenever a CE was applied. As revised, the Section states that 
documentation is required when a CE is applied to a new or unusual 
activity. In addition, the revisions to this Section clarified the 
internal process for documentation and converted the form at Appendix 1 
to a suggested format that may be adapted as necessary for application 
to a specific action.
    The Department also made minor revisions to Appendix 1 to clarify 
the application of CE's A7 and B1.

Brodi Fontenot,
Assistant Secretary for Management.
[FR Doc. 2015-10593 Filed 5-5-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-25-P