Title 16: Commercial Practices
PART 260—GUIDES FOR THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING CLAIMS
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§ 260.8 Environmental assessment.
(a) National Environmental Policy Act. In accordance with section 1.83 of the FTC's Procedures and Rules of Practice7 and section 1501.3 of the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (1969),8 the Commission prepared an environmental assessment when the guides were issued in July 1992 for purposes of providing sufficient evidence and analysis to determine whether issuing the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims required preparation of an environmental impact statement or a finding of no significant impact. After careful study, the Commission concluded that issuance of the Guides would not have a significant impact on the environment and that any such impact “would be so uncertain that environmental analysis would be based on speculation.”9 The Commission concluded that an environmental impact statement was therefore not required. The Commission based its conclusions on the findings in the environmental assessment that issuance of the guides would have no quantifiable environmental impact because the guides are voluntary in nature, do not preempt inconsistent state laws, are based on the FTC's deception policy, and, when used in conjunction with the Commission's policy of case-by-case enforcement, are intended to aid compliance with section 5(a) of the FTC Act as that Act applies to environmental marketing claims.
7 16 CFR 1.83.
8 40 CFR 1501.3.
9 16 CFR 1.83(a).
(b) The Commission has concluded that the modifications to the guides in this part will not have a significant effect on the environment, for the same reasons that the issuance of the original guides in 1992 and the modifications to the guides in 1996 were deemed not to have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, the Commission concludes that an environmental impact statement is not required in conjunction with the issuance of the 1998 modifications to the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims.
[63 FR 24251, May 1, 1998, as amended at 63 FR 24248, May 1, 1998]
