IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS OF THE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (CEQ)

Framework for Dredged Material Management

May 2004

Existing Federal navigation projects and existing permits will have had an

environmental evaluation accomplished at some time in their history. Evaluation of

environmental acceptability of an alternative will have been done in the NEPA

compliance documents, in the Section 404 or Section 103 evaluations and the Public

Notice, and to some extent in the engineering or project reports. Existing project and

permit reevaluations will normally require a comparison of what is to be done with the

existing NEPA document discussed. If the alternative is to remain the same or was

discussed in detail in the NEPA document and there is no reason to believe any new

significant issues or information have raised since the issuance of the NEPA document,

then no additional NEPA coverage is warranted.

If, however, new significant issues such as new disposal options not addressed in

the EIS/EA, public interest concerns, or reason to believe significant new contaminants

are present, then NEPA requirements should be updated with either an EA/FONSI or a

supplement to the existing EIS. In either of the above cases whether additional NEPA

documentation is required or not, all other environmental laws and regulations must be

followed (see Appendix A for a discussion of necessary compliance). This is either done

in the compliance and coordination section of the EA/EIS or in the Section 404 or

Section 103 evaluations. If the former is done, the 404/103 evaluation should be\

appended to and discussed in the NEPA document. In either case, there is full public

disclosure of the information in the public review process for NEPA or in the Public

Notice for the 404/103 evaluation process and an opportunity for public comment prior to

selection of the preferred alternative.

Federal navigation projects involving new work (i.e., new channels or

improvements to existing channels) and new 404/103 permit applications will normally

not have complied with NEPA, and will require compliance with the Council on

Environmental Quality regulations for implementing NEPA. This will be initiated as

early in the evaluation process as possible. For a more detail discussion of the USACE

regulations implementing NEPA, refer to 33 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts

230 and 325.

IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS OF THE COUNCIL ON

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (CEQ)

Subchapter II of the NEPA established the CEQ as part of the Executive Office of

the President. Exercising its mandate to oversee the implementation of the NEPA, in

1978 the CEQ issued regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) covering the procedural

provisions of the Act. The regulations state that the NEPA procedures are designed to

ensure that high-quality information on environmental consequences relative to

significant issues is available to public officials and private citizens before decisions are

made.