National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Registers

United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Alaska State Office
222 West Seventh Avenue, #13
Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7504
http://www.blm.gov/ak

In Reply Refer To:
2010 (93010) P

January 19, 2011

Instruction Memorandum No. AK-2011-010
Expires: 09/30/12

To: Bureau of Land Management (BLM)-Alaska Deputy State Directors, District Office Managers, Field Office Managers, Office of Pipeline Monitoring Authorized Officer, Alaska Fire Service Manager

From: State Director

Subject: National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Registers

Program Area: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

Purpose: To transmit new guidance regarding content and format consistency of Alaska NEPA Registers. BLM-Alaska uses the NEPA Register as part of its public involvement and notification process.

Policy/Action: Use of the following format and associated discussion will provide statewide consistency of NEPA Registers and ensure public notification of NEPA documents.
Format

Post the NEPA Registers for FY2009 and beyond on the BLM Alaska external website in a Communiqué table. Title the table, “NEPA Registers” (not “NEPA Logs” or any other name). The State Office, Office of Pipeline Monitoring, and each Field Office will create a NEPA Register for each fiscal year.

For each new entry, create a new row at the top of the register (not at the bottom), so that the most recent additions are at the top of the list. Include NEPA documents that span one or more fiscal years or Field Offices in all applicable NEPA Registers. For example, if an Environmental Assessment (EA) starts in FY10, but will not finish until FY11, the FY10 NEPA Register should refer the reader to the FY11 NEPA Register in the “Status of NEPA Review” column in the NEPA Register.

Include the following columns in the NEPA Register (refer to the sample NEPA Register entries at the end of this memo):

1. NEPA Document Number: Number the NEPA documents in accordance with IM-2008-199- Change 1, “Numbering convention for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) documents developed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),” which you can access at: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/regulations/Instruction_Memos_and_Bulletins/national_instruction/2009/IM_2008-199_ch1.html
2. Case File Number (if applicable): Case file numbers apply to some programs (e.g., lands, minerals); use “N/A” if not needed.
3. Applicant: For NEPA documents generated externally, fill in name of applicant, i.e., “State of Alaska”; for documents generated internally, use “BLM.”
4. Proposed Action: Use a title or short summation rather than a long description. For example, “Disclaimers of interest on submerged lands beneath navigable waters,” or, “Programmatic Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Plan.”
5. Affected Area: Use a brief, specific area location, such as “Northeast portion of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska,” or “35 miles northeast of Chicken, AK.” Do not use only the legal description; describe the general location of the action to the public.
6. NEPA Review Status: Include the status of the review. Documents such as Categorical Exclusions (CXs) may only require the entry “Complete” in this field; for longer-lived documents, update the status as information becomes available, such as “Notice of Intent published,” or “Draft Environmental Impact Statement Published/Public Comment Period ends January 15, 2011.”

Contact Information

At the bottom of the NEPA Register web page, include the name and phone number of the Office of the authorized officer (e.g., Anchorage Field Office, Office of Pipeline Monitoring, or Alaska State Office); do not include an individual employee’s contact information.
Public Access to NEPA Register Documents For each NEPA Document Type (see table below for a list of “Documents to link to on NEPA Register”), post a live link in the NEPA Document Number column to the document in your NEPA Register. Use PDF format for the linked documents. The PDF document should be accessible and comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Instead of linking to a live document, you may link the NEPA Register to a project’s website if the NEPA documents are available on that project website.

Activate live links within five (5) business days of any triggering action, as outlined in the table below (see “When to update NEPA Register”).

Documents to include in the NEPA Register

Acronyms
EIS-Environmental Impact Statement
NOI-Notice of Intent
DEIS-Draft Environmental Impact Statement
FONSI-Finding of No Significant Impact
FEIS-Final Environmental Impact Statement
DR-Decision Record
EA-Environmental Assessment
N/A-Not Applicable
ROD-Record of Decision
CX-Categorical Exclusion
DNA-Determination of No Action

Sample NEPA Register entries NEPA Document Number Case File Number Applicant Proposed Action Affected Area Status of NEPA Review

For further information, contact the BLM-Alaska Public Room at (907) 271-5960.

Timeframe: Effective immediately.

Budget Impact: Minimal budget impacts are anticipated with the implementation of this Policy.

Background: The BLM NEPA Handbook (H-1790-1) requires public involvement and public notice related to development of NEPA documents. The BLM-Alaska NEPA Register process meets minimum public involvement and notice requirements for EAs, DNAs, and CXs.

Coordination: This IM is a re-issue of IM AK-2009-008 and was coordinated with the Alaska State Office of Communications. The direction in the 2009 IM was coordinated with the Anchorage and Fairbanks District Offices.

Contact: For more information related to this IM, please contact Caron McKee, Writer/Editor, 907-271-4208 or Jolie Pollet, Supervisory Planner and Environmental Coordinator, 907-271-5546.

Signed by:
Julia Dougan
State Director (Acting)

Authenticated by:
Anita R. Jette
Records Specialist