Technical Correction to the Bureau of Land Managements (BLM) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Handbook

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
http://www.blm.gov

August 1, 2008

In Reply Refer To:
1610 (210) P

EMS TRANSMISSION 08/06/2008
Instruction Memorandum No. 2008-166
Expires: 09/30/2009

To:  All Washington Office and Field Office Officials

From:  Deputy Director, Programs & Policy

Subject:  Technical Correction to the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Handbook

Program Area: All program areas which comply with the NEPA.

Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) transmits a technical correction to the BLM Manual Handbook (H-1790-1) for NEPA (NEPA Handbook).

Policy/Action: All Washington Office and Field Office employees and officials will remove and replace the paragraph addressed below from the NEPA Handbook. This will clarify the use of the categorical exclusions established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

On page number 144 (Appendix 2) of the BLM NEPA Handbook (Manual Release # 1-1710 of 01/30/2008) you are directed to remove the last paragraph on the page, beginning with "Note:" and replace it with the following paragraph.

Note: The CX numbers one (1) and three (3) reference previous NEPA documents. Field Offices must apply the same or more effective mitigating measures considered in the parent NEPA documents to all actions approved under any CX. Additionally, BMPs are to be applied as necessary to reduce impacts to any authorization issued, regardless of the NEPA analysis or exclusion used.

Timeframe: Effective upon issuance.

Background: The BLM NEPA Handbook (H-1790-1) was published in January 2008. The purpose of this Handbook is to help the BLM comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) NEPA regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and the Department of Interior NEPA Manual.

Budget Impact: None

Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: The BLM Handbook H-1790-1 (Rel. 1-1710), of 2008 is now modified to incorporate the corrected text.

Coordination: This IM has been coordinated with Assistant Directors for WO-200, WO-300, WO-800, and Solicitors.

Contact: For further information, please contact Peg Sorensen, NEPA Specialist, Division of Decision Support, Planning and the NEPA (WO-210) at 202-452-0364; or Sandra Meyers, Branch Chief, Division of Decision Support, Planning and the NEPA at 202-557-3373.

Signed by:
James L. Caswell
Deputy Director, Programs and Policy

Authenticated by:
Robert M. Williams
Division of IRM Governance,WO-560