Numbering convention for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) documents developed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
http://www.blm.gov
December 18, 2008
In Reply Refer To:
1790 (210)
EMS TRANSMISSION 12/22/2008
Instruction Memorandum No. 2008-199 – Change 1
Expires: 09/30/2009
To:
All Washington Office and Field Office Officials
From:
Assistant Director, Renewable Resources and Planning
Subject:
Numbering convention for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) documents developed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Program Area: All program areas.
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) transmits new guidance regarding the numbering convention to be used for BLM documents developed to comply with the NEPA.
Policy/Action: Beginning with Fiscal_Year 2009, it is the policy of the BLM that the numbering convention of any new document developed to comply with the NEPA will use the format described in the attachment. This guidance also modifies the NEPA Handbook and the Land Use Planning Handbook if and where necessary. Upon implementation of the ePlanning platform, these numbers will be generated by the program. Until that time, offices will use a standard numbering convention to track documents developed to comply with the NEPA.
This change to IM 2008-199 reflects changes to the organization codes and compliance with the Federal Business Management System (FBMS).
Time frame: This IM is effective immediately. All new documents developed to comply with the NEPA beginning on October 1, 2008, must comply with the new numbering convention, even if the document is created outside of the ePlanning platform.
Budget Impact: There may be limited impacts to budget as staffs adjust current tracking systems to comply with this IM. Other impacts may include retroactive adjustments (in FY09 only) to numbering of NEPA documents. Prior year NEPA numbers need not be adjusted.
Background: This standard will identify individual documents developed, at all levels within the BLM, to comply with the NEPA, in order to use this information in future data management efforts. As the BLM moves toward total integration of the E-Gov for Planning and NEPA (referred to as ePlanning) platform for Land Use Plans (LUP) and NEPA documents, a standard method of numbering and tracking documents is necessary. The numbering convention addressed in this IM results from BLM efforts to standardize data collection across all programs. The Data Administration and Management Handbook provides guidance under which data is used and modified. All documents developed to comply with the NEPA for the BLM are assigned some sort of unique identifier or number.
The standardization of data collection will both enhance and improve BLM’s business process for conducting LUP and NEPA activities. The BLM is comprised of approximately 170 state, district and field offices and every BLM office is involved in LUP and/or NEPA work. With approximately 13,000 Planning and NEPA documents created annually by the BLM, implementing business practices that require specific software skills is a significant workload.
The DOI has approved and is in the process of implementing the Management Planning and NEPA Blueprint (see Website: http://www.myinterior.doi.net/oepc/mpnblueprint/mbt.htm) for all agencies within the Department. One of the recommendations of the Blueprint is that ePlanning become the Interior Land Management Planning System (ILMPS). The BLM’s goal is to complete ePlanning implementation prior to implementation of ILMPS in 2010. This is a very aggressive implementation target since this affects one the BLM’s core business processes. While helping to make the Planning and NEPA processes more consistent and efficient on an enterprise-wide level, ePlanning is complying with the BLM policy of data standardization. The ePlanning team devised standards for identifying and coding NEPA projects as explained above.
Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: BLM Handbook H-1790-1 NEPA, and Land Use Planning Handbook H-1601-1.
Coordination: This IM has been coordinated between the ePlanning team at the National Operations Center and WO-210.
Contact: Questions may be directed to Peg Sorensen, NEPA Specialist, Division of Decision Support, Planning and NEPA (WO-210), at 202-557-3564; or Karla Bird, Acting Division Chief, Decision Support, Planning and NEPA, at 202-557-3585.
Signed by: Authenticated by:
Edwin L. Roberson Robert M. Williams
Assistant Director Division of IRM Governance,WO-560
Renewable Resources and Planning
1 Attachment
1 - NEPA Numbering Convention (2 pp)