Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 108 / Thursday, June 5, 2014 / Notices 32563 

send their comments via email, 

commenters may also fax their 

comments to: 202–395–7285. 

Commenters may also mail them to: 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, New Executive Office Building, 

Room 10102, Washington, DC 20503. 

Summer King, 

Statistician. 

[FR Doc. 2014–13029 Filed 6–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4162–20–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

[Docket Number DHS–2013–0052] 

National Environmental Policy Act 

Implementing Procedures 

AGENCY: Department of Homeland 

Security. 

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Revisions to 

National Environmental Policy Act 

implementing procedures and request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is 

to provide an opportunity for public 

comment on the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS or 

Department) draft Directive 023–01, 

Rev. 01 and draft Instruction Manual 

023–01–001–01, Rev. 01, 

Implementation of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (herein after 

referred to as Directive and Instruction). 

Together, the Directive and Instruction 

serve as the Department’s procedures for 

implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as 

amended, and the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) 

regulations for implementing the 

procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 

Parts 1500–1508). Pursuant to the CEQ 

regulations, DHS is soliciting comments 

on its proposed internal Directive and 

Instruction from members of the 

interested public. 

DATES: Comments and related material 

must be received on or before (or, if 

mailed, postmarked on or before) 

August 4, 2014 to ensure consideration. 

Late comments may be considered to 

the extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: Relevant documents are 

posted at http://www.regulations.gov 

(Docket ID: DHS–2013–0052) and 

www.dhs.gov/nepa. These documents 

include: this notice, the proposed 

Directive and Instruction, and a 

synopsis of the Department’s 

administrative record for several 

proposed new NEPA categorical 

exclusions (CATEXs). 

You may submit comments, identified 

by ‘‘DHS NEPA Procedures,’’ by one of 

the following methods: 

(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments electronically via docket 

number DHS–2013–0052. 

(2) Mail: Sustainability and 

Environmental Programs, Office of the 

Chief Readiness Support Officer, 

Management Directorate, Department of 

Homeland Security, 245 Murray Lane 

SW., Mail Stop 0075, Washington, DC 

20528–0075. 

(3) Email: SEP–EPHP@hq.dhs.gov. 

In choosing among these means of 

providing comments, please give due 

regard to the security screening 

difficulties and delays associated with 

delivery of mail to federal agencies in 

Washington, DC, through the U.S. Postal 

Service. 

All comments received, including any 

personal information provided, will 

become a part of the public record for 

the Department’s NEPA procedures and 

may be posted without change on the 

internet at http://www.regulations.gov 

and http://www.dhs.gov/nepa. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Shick, Environmental Protection 

Specialist, Department of Homeland 

Security, 202–603–3517, or 

laura.shick@hq.dhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS 

or Department) encourages interested 

persons to submit written data, views, 

or comments. Persons submitting 

comments should include their name, 

address, and other appropriate contact 

information. You may submit your 

comments and material by one of the 

means listed under ADDRESSES. If you 

submit them by mail or hand delivery, 

submit them in an unbound format, no 

larger than 81⁄2 by 11 inches, suitable for 

copying and electronic filing. If you 

submit them by mail and would like to 

know that they were received, please 

enclose a stamped, self-addressed 

postcard or envelope. DHS will consider 

all comments received during the 

comment period. 

The Directive and Instruction 

establish the policy and procedures 

DHS follows to comply with NEPA (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the CEQ 

regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500–1508). 

Together, the Directive and Instruction 

apply to all of DHS, which is currently 

comprised of over 20 support and 

operational components, and help 

ensure the integration of environmental 

stewardship into DHS decision making 

as required by NEPA. The Directive and 

Instruction serve as the DHS 

implementing procedures for NEPA and 

the CEQ regulations (as required by 40 

CFR 1505.1 and 1507.3) and therefore 

must be read in conjunction with the 

CEQ regulations. 

The Directive and Instruction have 

been substantially revised to address a 

number of circumstances and 

requirements that have arisen since 

April 19, 2006, the effective date of the 

original DHS procedures (Federal 

Register, Vol. 71, No. 64, April 4, 2006). 

Revision of the Directive and 

Instruction, including additions to the 

Department’s list of NEPA categorical 

exclusions (CATEXs), was a 

collaborative effort on the part of 

numerous DHS environmental and legal 

professionals from across the 

Department. These professionals are 

NEPA practitioners and environmental 

protection specialists with numerous 

years of federal NEPA experience, 

including experience in implementing 

the 2006 DHS NEPA procedures or 

Component-specific procedures, and 

legal practitioners with advanced 

education and experience advising 

federal agency project and program 

managers on NEPA compliance. The 

DHS Components and offices whose 

staff contributed to the update of the 

Directive and Instruction include: 

• Sustainability and Environmental 

Programs (SEP), Office of the Chief 

Readiness Support Officer, Under 

Secretary for Management, DHS HQ 

• Office of the General Counsel, DHS 

HQ 

• Federal Emergency Management 

Agency (FEMA) 

• United States Coast Guard (USCG) 

• Customs and Border Protection 

(CBP) 

• Transportation Security 

Administration (TSA) 

• Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement (ICE) 

• Federal Law Enforcement Training 

Center (FLETC) 

• United States Secret Service (USSS) 

• Science and Technology Directorate 

(S&T) 

• National Protection and Programs 

Directorate (NPPD) 

• United States Citizenship and 

Immigration Services (USCIS) 

When originally published in 2006, 

the Directive and Instruction did not 

apply to the Components of FEMA, 

CBP, or USCG; these three Components 

each maintained their own procedures 

for implementing NEPA when the 

Department was established in 2002. 

This proposed revision to the Directive 

and Instruction incorporates FEMA, 

CBP, and USCG into the Department’s 

NEPA procedures and addresses the full 

scope of DHS activities to which NEPA 


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32564 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 108 / Thursday, June 5, 2014 / Notices 

applies. When the updated procedures 

are finalized and become effective, they 

will apply to all Components of DHS, 

including FEMA, CBP, and USCG. In 

addition, every Component will have 

the option of developing Supplemental 

Instructions to establish how that 

particular Component will meet the 

requirements of the final version of the 

DHS Directive and Instruction. In a 

separate yet related effort, FEMA will 

pursue rescission of its regulations at 44 

CFR 10 and replace them with 

Supplemental Instructions that conform 

to requirements of the final version of 

the DHS Directive and Instruction. 

As the Department has matured, the 

requirements of its Directives System 

have changed. The current DHS 

Directives System, effective as of August 

2012, establishes standards for the 

length, format, and content of 

documents such as policies, delegations 

of authority, directives, instructions, 

manuals, handbooks, etc. The 2006 

Directive and Instruction do not align to 

the requirements of the Department’s 

current Directives System, and therefore 

revisions were necessary. For example, 

a directive must be used to establish 

policy as well as high-level roles and 

responsibilities, and cannot exceed five 

pages in length; an instruction 

accompanies a directive and provides 

detail on how to comply with the 

requirements of the directive, such as by 

establishing specific roles and 

responsibilities, processes, systems, and 

program management requirements. The 

revised Directive establishes the policy 

that DHS will comply with NEPA, and 

the revised Instruction establishes the 

procedures for ensuring this compliance 

is implemented in an effective and 

efficient manner. 

The requirements put forth in the 

revised Directive and Instruction 

emphasize that the NEPA process must 

be appropriately integrated into the 

performance of DHS missions and 

activities and decision making. The 

Instruction covers the following: 

overview of NEPA requirements, 

including requirements for the 

preparation and content of NEPA 

documents; management of NEPA 

implementation in DHS; criteria for 

Components to obtain a delegation of 

authority to approve their respective 

NEPA reviews; public involvement; 

dispute resolution; information 

protected from public disclosure; 

procedures for emergencies; review of 

applications from persons or 

organizations outside of DHS (e.g., grant 

applications); and an identification of 

the types of DHS activities normally 

reviewed in a CATEX, Environmental 

Assessment, or Environmental Impact 

Statement. 

Revisions were also made to the 

Directive and Instruction to address the 

requirements of laws and Executive 

Orders since 2006, as well as to 

incorporate recent CEQ guidance 

memoranda. Readability, clarity, and 

organization of the content were 

improved to comply with the 

requirements of the Plain Writing Act of 

2010. The revised Instruction 

incorporates CEQ guidance on 

mitigation and monitoring; establishing 

and applying CATEXs; emergencies; 

preparation of efficient and timely 

environmental reviews; and 

environmental collaboration and 

conflict resolution. 

The CATEXs published in 2006 are 

being retained and are included in the 

revised Instruction (Appendix A, Table 

1). In addition, the following new 

CATEXs are proposed: One CATEX for 

an administrative activity; five CATEXs 

for real property management activities; 

13 CATEXs for non-grant activities 

unique to FEMA’s mission and 

authorities; and 19 CATEXs for federal 

assistance (e.g., grant) activities. DHS 

followed the CEQ guidance 

memorandum on ‘‘Establishing, 

Applying, and Revising Categorical 

Exclusions under the National 

Environmental Policy Act,’’ dated 

November 23, 2010, in developing these 

new CATEXs. For synopses of the 

administrative record support for the 

Department’s list of existing and 

proposed new CATEXs, see the docket 

and the DHS NEPA Web page at 

http://www.dhs.gov/nepa. 

There are currently approximately 80 

federal assistance programs in DHS (see 

the Catalogue of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) at https:// 

www.cfda.gov for the list of programs). 

The majority of these programs are 

administered by FEMA. Applicants use 

federal assistance from DHS, such as 

grant funding, to implement a variety of 

emergency preparedness, response, and 

recovery and hazard mitigation 

activities and projects, ranging from 

classroom training and purchases of 

portable equipment to laboratory 

research to facility repair, renovation, 

and construction. Because these 

activities are federally-assisted, DHS, in 

coordination with the recipients of 

grants or other assistance, must ensure 

they are compliant with NEPA. DHS is 

proposing several CATEXs for its federal 

assistance activities because DHS has 

determined these activities would 

normally not have the potential to have 

an individually or cumulatively 

significant impact on the quality of the 

human environment. These CATEXs 

will help ensure the timely and effective 

delivery of DHS assistance in an 

environmentally compliant fashion. 

These proposed new CATEXs are 

included in the Instruction in Appendix 

A, Table 1, Section N. 

Several statutes, authorities, 

programs, and activities are unique to 

FEMA (i.e., not relevant to or 

undertaken by any other DHS 

component) and therefore additions to 

the list of CATEXs include several 

developed specifically for FEMA 

activities that would not normally have 

the potential to have individually or 

cumulatively significant impacts on the 

quality of the human environment. 

These include activities associated with 

the administration of the National Flood 

Insurance Program, and emergency and 

disaster response and recovery and 

hazard mitigation activities authorized 

by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

and Emergency Assistance Act (Public 

Law 93–288) as amended. These 

proposed new CATEXs are included in 

the Instruction in Appendix A, Table 1, 

Section M. 

DHS invested over three years in 

developing the proposed revision to its 

NEPA procedures. The revised Directive 

and Instruction were provided to CEQ 

in the fall of 2013 for discussion prior 

to this publication for public comment. 

CEQ will remain engaged and be asked 

to issue a letter prior to publication of 

the final Directive and Instruction as 

required under 40 CFR 1507.3. The 

Directive and Instruction published here 

in the Federal Register are available for 

a 60-day public comment period. The 

comments received will be analyzed 

and any appropriate revisions will be 

made to the documents. The Directive 

and Instruction revised in response to 

public comments will be shared with 

CEQ prior to final adoption and 

implementation. A Notice of Final 

Directive and Instruction will be 

published in the Federal Register with 

a 120-day waiting period before the new 

NEPA procedures become effective. 

This notice will present the response to 

the public comments received on the 

proposed revised Directive and 

Instruction. 

A copy of this Federal Register 

publication and the proposed Directive 

and Instruction and supporting 

documents are available on the internet 

at www.regulations.gov and http:// 

www.dhs.gov/nepa. 

Dated: May 29, 2014. 

Teresa R. Pohlman, 

Director of Sustainability and Environmental 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2014–13035 Filed 6–4–14; 8:45 am] 

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