Credit: USDA
June 12, 2019 - Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service (USFS) released proposed changes to modernize how the agency complies with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The proposed updates would not only give the Forest Service the tools and flexibility to manage the land and tackle critical challenges like wildfire, insects, and disease but also improve service to the American people. Revising the rules will improve forest conditions and make it simpler for people to use and enjoy their national forests and grasslands at lower cost to the taxpayer. The revised rules will also make it easier to maintain and repair the infrastructure people need to use and enjoy their public lands—the roads, trails, campgrounds, and other facilities.
While these proposed changes will save time and resources, they are ultimately intended to better protect people, communities and forests from catastrophic wildfire and ensure a high level of engagement with people and communities when doing related work and associated environmental analyses.
“We are committed to doing the work to protect people and infrastructure from catastrophic wildfire. With millions of acres in need of treatment, years of costly analysis and delays are not an acceptable solution – especially when data and experience show us we can get this work done with strong environmental protection standards as well as protect communities, livelihoods and resources,” said Secretary Perdue.
In 2008, the Forest Service codified its procedures for complying with NEPA in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 36 CFR 220. However, these regulations, in large part, still reflect the policies and practices established by the agency’s 1992 NEPA Manual and Handbook. When these regulations were adopted in 2008, they were intended to modernize and improve management processes. The proposed rule would further modernize the agency’s NEPA policy by incorporating experience from past 10 years. This experience includes input from comments on the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking from January of 2018, as well as feedback from roundtables, workshops, and input from agency experts.
“We have pored over 10 years of environmental data and have found that in many cases, we do redundant analyses, slowing down important work to protect communities, livelihoods and resources,” said Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen. “We now have an opportunity to use that information to our advantage, and we want to hear from the people we serve to improve these proposed updates.”
The updates would create a new suite of “categorical exclusions,” a classification under the NEPA excluding certain routine activities from more extensive, time-consuming analysis under an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement. The proposed categorical exclusions would be for restoration projects, roads and trails management, recreation and facility management, as well as special use authorizations that issue permits for outfitters and guides, community organizations, civic groups and others who seek to recreate on our national forests and grasslands. The new categorical exclusions are based on intensive analysis of hundreds of environmental assessments and related data and when fully implemented will reduce process delays for routine activities by months or years.
The proposed update is open for public comment for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. Public comments are reviewed and considered when developing the final rule. Instructions on how to provide comments are included in the online notice.
More information on the proposed rule change and how to comment is available on the Forest Service website.
Source: USDA
U.S. Forest Service:
Leadership Corner - Revising our rule for NEPA implementation to improve land and resources
Today, I’m pleased to announce the Forest Service is proposing a rule that modernizes processes for decision-making and environmental analysis on our forests and grasslands. This proposal marks the first significant rule change in our National Environmental Policy Act procedures in more than a decade. Changing conditions on the ground and over time require us periodically to review the way we carry out the law. After more than 10 years, with all that we have learned and now manage toward— including fire seasons that are now year round — another revision is due.
Modernizing how our agency complies with NEPA will allow us to step up the pace of our on-the-ground work to improve the condition of the lands and resources entrusted to our care. It will also help us better protecting communities and meet the needs of the people we serve. At the same time, the new rule would fully engage the public in our decision making, apply the best available science to our work, and use the newest information available as we make decisions.
To be clear, the proposed new rule would fully comply with NEPA. Every decision we make will continue to go through the appropriate level of NEPA analysis as well as the appropriate level of public engagement to protect the lands and resources entrusted to our care. Environmental protection remains fundamental to our mission of caring for the land and serving people.
Our proposed new rule results from an extensive study of our past experiences and from vigorous input from citizens across the country. After examining hundreds of past projects, we concluded that we do more analysis than needed, slowing our work and keeping us from fulfilling our mission as efficiently as we could. As we developed the proposed new rule, we received comments from more than 35,000 citizens; we also hosted roundtables across the country, listening to citizens and soliciting their advice.
The proposed new rule would give us more flexibility in responding to the unprecedented challenges we face in connection with extended droughts, catastrophic wildfires and epidemics of insects and disease. Among other reforms, the new rule would:
- focus our environmental assessments on their core purpose in accordance with NEPA, saving us time in accomplishing the work we do for the health of the land;
- tailor the amount of our environmental analysis to the scope of our projects, taking location and existing conditions into account and thereby reducing redundancy in our analysis for similar work under similar conditions — again saving us time;
- let us adopt proven practices and apply lessons learned from our own experiences and those of other agencies, for more time saved; and
- add new categorical exclusions to improve our ability to manage and restore our forests and watershed, maintain and repair the roads, trails, campgrounds and other facilities, and be more responsive to people that depend upon and enjoy their national forests and grasslands.
Today’s release initiates a 60-day public comment period. In the process, the Forest Service will continue to deliver high-quality environmental analysis based on the best available science, and we will continue to make decisions that honor our fundamental commitment to environmental stewardship. Nothing in our proposed new rule changes that commitment — to the contrary: the new rule will give us even more capacity to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of America’s forests and grasslands, both now and for generations to come.
I invite you to learn more on our NEPA revision webpage, as well as participate in upcoming NEPA webinars and calls. The first is tomorrow, so check your inbox for and invite from me.
Source: U.S. Forest Service
