National Environmental Policy Act (7 CFR 1b.1-1b.4)

130 7 CFR Subtitle A (1–1–18 Edition) § 1a.5 § 1a.5 Responsibility of the Inspector General. The Inspector General shall: (a) Issue directives conforming to this part governing the exercise of the authorities granted by this part. These directives should contain the policies and procedures by which the authori ties will be exercised by designated of ficials of the Office of Inspector Gen eral; (b) Establish criteria for qualifica tion by officials of the Office of Inspec tor General who are designated to exer cise the authorities granted in this part; (c) Monitor the implementation and exercise of the authorities granted by this part; (d) Designate, pursuant to §§ 1a.2, 1a.3 and 1a.4, and the directives issued under paragraph (a) of this section, and the criteria established under para graph (b) of this section, employees who have satisfied all the qualifica tions set by the Inspector General to exercise the authorities granted by § 1a.2; and (e) Submit to the Attorney General of the United States the name of any employee of the Office of Inspector General designated pursuant to para graph (d) of this section. Any designa tion not specifically disapproved by the Attorney General within 30 days after the date of submission shall be deemed approved. PART 1b—NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT Sec. 1b.1 Purpose. 1b.2 Policy. 1b.3 Categorical exclusions. 1b.4 Exclusion of agencies. AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 301; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; E.O. 11514, 3 CFR, 1966–1970 Comp., p. 902, as amended by E.O. 11991, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 123; E.O. 12114, 3 CFR, 1980 Comp., p. 356; 40 CFR 1507.3. SOURCE: 48 FR 11403, Mar. 18, 1983, unless otherwise noted. § 1b.1 Purpose. (a) This part supplements the regula tions for implementation of the Na tional Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for which regulations were published by the Council on Environ mental Quality (CEQ) in 40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508. This part incor porates and adopts those regulations. (b) This part sets forth Departmental policy concerning NEPA, establishes categorical exclusions of actions car ried out by the Department and its agencies, and sets forth those USDA agencies which are excluded from the requirement to prepare procedures im plementing NEPA. [48 FR 11403, Mar. 18, 1983, as amended at 60 FR 66481, Dec. 22, 1995] § 1b.2 Policy. (a) All policies and programs of the various USDA agencies shall be planned, developed, and implemented so as to achieve the goals and to follow the procedures declared by NEPA in order to assure responsible stewardship of the environment for present and fu ture generations. (b) Each USDA agency is responsible for compliance with this part, the regu lations of CEQ, and NEPA. Compliance will include the preparation and imple mentation of specific procedures and processes relating to the programs and activities of the individual agency, as necessary. (c) The Under Secretary, Natural Re sources and Environment (NR&E), is responsible for ensuring that agency implementing procedures are con sistent with CEQ’s NEPA regulations and for coordinating NEPA compliance for the Department. The Under Sec retary, NR&E, through the Agricul tural Council on Environmental Qual ity, will develop the necessary proc esses to be used by the Office of the Secretary in reviewing, implementing, and planning its NEPA activities, de terminations, and policies. (d) In connection with the policies and requirements set forth in this part, all USDA agencies are responsible for compliance with Executive Order 12114, ‘‘Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions.’’ Compliance will include the preparation and imple mentation of specific procedures and processes relative to the programs and activities of the individual agencies, as necessary. Agencies shall consult with the Department of State; the Council on Environmental Quality; and the VerDate Sep<11>2014 11:19 Feb 14, 2018 Jkt 244012 PO 00000 Frm 00140 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:\SGML\244012.XXX 244012js ta llw o rt h o n D S K B B Y 8 H B 2 P R O D w ith C F R 131 Office of the Secretary, USDA Pt. 1c Under Secretary, NR&E, prior to plac ing procedures and processes in effect. [48 FR 11403, Mar. 18, 1983, as amended at 60 FR 66481, Dec. 22, 1995] § 1b.3 Categorical exclusions. (a) The following are categories of activities which have been determined not to have a significant individual or cumulative effect on the human envi ronment and are excluded from the preparation of environmental assess ment (EA’s) or environmental impact statement (EIS’s), unless individual agency procedures prescribed other wise. (1) Policy development, planning and implementation which relate to rou tine activities, such as personnel, orga nizational changes, or similar adminis trative functions; (2) Activities which deal solely with the funding of programs, such as pro gram budget proposals, disbursements, and transfer or reprogramming of funds; (3) Inventories, research activities, and studies, such as resource inven tories and routine data collection when such actions are clearly limited in con text and intensity; (4) Educational and informational programs and activities; (5) Civil and criminal law enforce ment and investigative activities; (6) Activities which are advisory and consultative to other agencies and pub lic and private entities, such as legal counselling and representation; (7) Activities related to trade rep resentation and market development activities abroad. (b) Agencies will identify in their own procedures the activities which normally would not require an environ mental assessment or environmental impact statement. (c) Notwithstanding the exclusions listed in paragraphs (a) of this section and § 1b.4, or identified in agency proce dures, agency heads may determine that circumstances dictate the need for preparation of an EA or EIS for a par ticular action. Agencies shall continue to scrutinize their activities to deter mine continued eligibility for categor ical exclusion. [48 FR 11403, Mar. 18, 1983, as amended at 60 FR 66481, Dec. 22, 1995] § 1b.4 Exclusion of agencies. (a) The USDA agencies and agency units listed in paragraph (b) of this sec tion conduct programs and activities that have been found to have no indi vidual or cumulative effect on the human environment. The USDA agen cies and agency units listed in para graph (b) of this section are excluded from the requirements of preparing procedures to implement NEPA. Ac tions of USDA agencies and agency units listed in paragraph (b) of this sec tion are categorically excluded from the preparation of an EA or EIS unless the agency head determines that an ac tion may have a significant environ mental effect. (b)(1) Agricultural Marketing Service (2) Economic Research Service (3) [Reserved] (4) Federal Corp Insurance Corpora tion (5) Food and Consumer Service (6) Food Safety and Inspection Serv ice (7) Foreign Agricultural Service (8) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (9) National Agricultural Library (10) National Agricultural Statistics Service (11) Office of the General Counsel (12) Office of the Inspector General [60 FR 66481, Dec. 22, 1995, as amended at 76 FR 4802, Jan. 27, 2011] PART 1c—PROTECTION OF HUMAN SUBJECTS (Eff. until 7-19-18) Sec. 1c.101 To what does this policy apply? 1c.102 Definitions. 1c.103 Assuring compliance with this pol icy—research conducted or supported by any Federal Department or Agency. 1c.104–1c.106 [Reserved] 1c.107 IRB membership. 1c.108 IRB functions and operations. 1c.109 IRB review of research. 1c.110 Expedited review procedures for cer tain kinds of research involving no more than minimal risk, and for minor changes in approved research. 1c.111 Criteria for IRB approval of research. 1c.112 Review by institution. 1c.113 Suspension or termination of IRB ap proval of research. 1c.114 Cooperative research. 1c.115 IRB records. VerDate Sep<11>2014 11:19 Feb 14, 2018 Jkt 244012 PO 00000 Frm 00141 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:\SGML\244012.XXX 244012js ta llw o rt h o n D S K B B Y 8 H B 2 P R O D w ith C F R