29 C.F.R. Subpart A—General Provisions
Title 29 - Labor
(a) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) directs that, “to the fullest extent possible, * * * the policies, regulations and public laws of the United States shall be interpreted and administered in accordance with the policies set forth” in the Act for the preservation of the environment. As a means for achieving this objective, Executive Order 11991 of May 24, 1977 (amending E.O. 11514 of March 5, 1970) directed the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to issue uniform regulations for implementation of NEPA by all Federal agencies. These regulations were published in final form on November 29, 1978 (43 FR 55978) as 40 CFR parts 1500–1508. The CEQ's NEPA regulations require that each Federal agency adopt implementing procedures to supplement their regulations (40 CFR 1507.3). Accordingly, the purpose of this part is to prescribe procedures to be followed by Department of Labor agencies when such agencies are contemplating actions which may be subject to the requirements of NEPA. These regulations do not replace 40 CFR parts 1500–1508; rather they are to be read together with, and as a supplement to, the CEQ's regulations. (b) It is the responsibility of each agency to comply with the policies set forth in NEPA to the fullest extent possible and consistent with its statutory authority. Each agency shall comply with all applicable requirements of this part except where compliance would be inconsistent with other statutory requirements. However, no trivial violation of, or noncompliance with, these procedures shall give rise to an independent cause of action (cf. 40 CFR 1500.3 and 1507.3(b)). Although all Department of Labor agencies are subject to NEPA, only three of its agencies routinely propose or consider actions which may require the preparation of environment assessments or environmental impact statements. These are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which acts pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651, et seq.); the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), which acts pursuant to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801, et seq.); and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) (through one of its major programs, the Job Corps) which purchases and leases land and constructs Job Corps centers pursuant to the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (29 U.S.C. 801, et. seq.). Therefore, these procedures have been designed primarily with the duties and rulemaking processes of these agencies in mind. If and when other Department of Labor agencies propose actions requiring environmental impact analyses, they shall use these procedures, to the extent that they are applicable, in performing such analyses. (a) The Assistant Secretary for Policy shall be responsible for the following: (1) Overall review of Department of Labor agency compliance with the requirements of NEPA, the CEQ's regulations and these Departmental procedures; (2) Maintaining contacts with CEQ and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the Departmental NEPA liaison; and (3) Preparing and coordinating Departmental comments in response to environmental impact statements prepared by other Federal agencies which have been submitted to the Department for review, as required by 40 CFR 1503.2. (b) Assistant Secretaries of Labor and other officials of equivalent rank or responsibility (hereinafter “agency heads”) shall be responsible for their agencies' compliance with NEPA. (1) These responsibilities shall include the following: (i) Assuring that the agencies under their control observe the requirements of 40 CFR 1507.2 on compliance capability; (ii) Preparing environmental impact assessments and statements in accordance with the requirements of these regulations and 40 CFR parts 1501 and 1502, and advising private applicants, or other non-Federal entities, of the possible need for information foreseeably required for later Federal action pursuant to 40 CFR 1501.2(d); (iii) Assuring public participation in the NEPA process in accordance with 40 CFR parts 1503 and 1506; (iv) Commenting on environmental impact statements prepared by other agencies, when their agencies have jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impacts connected with a proposed action, as required by 40 CFR part 1503; (v) Assuring that environmental documents prepared by their agencies accompany proposed actions through existing agency review processes, and that, along with other relevant materials, and consistent with 40 CFR 1505.1(e), the full range of alternatives discussed in these documents are considered in the planning of agency actions and in the making of decisions and that the alternatives considered are encompassed by those discussed in the documents; and (vi) Assuring, where possible, the mitigation of adverse environmental effects of agency actions. (2) In accordance with 40 CFR 1506.5(c), agency heads will also be responsible for assuring the quality of environmental impact statements prepared by their agencies. Where environmental impact statements will be prepared by a contractor, the agency heads will assure that their agencies furnish guidance to the contractor, participate in the document's preparation, independently evaluate the statement prior to approval and take responsibility for the scope and contents. (c) Agency heads may designate program offices or individuals as NEPA contacts for their agencies. The name and address of the NEPA contact shall be included on the cover sheet of each environmental document published by the agency, or if no cover sheet is provided, the name and address of this office or individual shall be included with any instructions to the public on obtaining further information or submitting comments on the document. (1) It shall be the duty of an agency's NEPA contact to know the status of all environmental documents being prepared by the agency or in cooperation with another agency. (2) The NEPA contact shall receive and respond to inquiries concerning the status of all environmental documents being prepared within the agency or in cooperation with another agency. [45 FR 51188, Aug. 1, 1980, as amended at 71 FR 16665, Apr. 3, 2006]
Title 29: Labor
PART 11—DEPARTMENT OF LABOR NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (NEPA) COMPLIANCE PROCEDURES
Subpart A—General Provisions
§ 11.1 Purpose and scope.
§ 11.2 Applicability.
§ 11.3 Responsible agency officials.
