National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) – Categorical Exclusion Reviews

Categorical exclusions are "a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment . . . and for which, therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement is required" (40 CFR § 1508.4).  The categorical exclusions for BOEMRE activities were established through a public review and departmental approval process and are listed in the Departmental Manual (43CFR § 46.210) and the BOEMRE Manual (516 DM 15.4).  These categorical exclusions may be amended using the same review and approval process.  

Some of the BOEMRE categorical exclusions were developed based on experience in reviewing actions for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in the past.  For example, hundreds of Environmental Assessments (EAs) were prepared for approval of certain types of oil and gas exploration and development and production plans in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico.   However, none of those EAs identified the need to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  Therefore, a list of categorical exclusions was established for approval of those plans.  An example of this is the approval of applications for pricing determinations under the Natural Gas Policy Act.

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) developed the categorical exclusion process to reduce the amount of unnecessary paperwork and delay associated with NEPA compliance.   If a certain type of BOEMRE action, such as the issuance of regulations, would not normally result in any environmental effects that are potentially significant, it is unnecessary to expend resources to repeatedly document that fact.  However, the CEQ acknowledged that, from time to time, exceptions to a categorical exclusion may arise.   As a result, the CEQ requires all agencies to develop procedures to determine whether a normally excluded action may have a significant environmental effect.  The Categorical Exclusion Review (CER) determines whether a proposal that is categorically excluded may meet any of the Department’s extraordinary circumstances (43 CFR § 46.215) criteria.

	Actions Requiring Categorical Exclusion Reviews
	Criteria for Determining Whether an EA is Required for a Categorically Excluded Action
	Procedures for Conducting a CER

Recent Categorical Exclusions / Categorical Exclusion Reviews

Categorical Exclusion Review for the Proposed Final Rule, Safety and Environmental Management Systems for Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Operations

 

BOEMRE Comprehensive Review of its Categorical Exclusions for Outer Continental Shelf Decisions 

Following the release of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Report, (August 16, 2010), regarding the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) NEPA policies, practices, and procedures as they relate to OCS oil and gas exploration and development, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) (formerly MMS) Director Michael R. Bromwich announced that the Bureau would limit its use of categorical exclusions for offshore oil and gas development, while it undertakes a comprehensive review of its NEPA process and the use of categorical exclusions for OCS decisions. 

On October 8, 2010, the Bureau published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to conduct a review of categorical exclusions for OCS decisions [75 FR 62418]. We received 21 letters within the 30-day comment period.  In addition, one comment was received multiple times in the form of 3,264 individual electronic letters. You may review all of the comments we received at http://www.regulations.gov by entering Docket ID BOEM–2010–0036 and searching the docket contents.

On November 23, 2010, CEQ published final guidance for establishing, applying and revising categorical exclusions under NEPA [75 FR 75628], which encouraged agencies to pursue opportunities for public involvement beyond publication of the proposed amendments in the Federal Register in cases where there is likely to be significant public interest and additional outreach would facilitate public input. Therefore, in addition to our initial request for public comment in our October 2010 NOI  [75 FR 62418],  the Bureau will publish our analysis and recommendations regarding our categorical exclusions in the Federal Register and invite further public and agency involvement in our review.  After considering all comments received, the results of our review will be published in the Federal Register, posted at http://www.regulations.gov, and updated in the Department of the Interior Manual.  During this review process we are working with CEQ, the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of the Interior, and other Federal agencies.

If you have any questions about our review of the OCS categorical exclusions please contact the BOEMRE Environmental Division at CEsR@boemre.gov.

Please check this webpage for periodic updates.