(a) NASA shall serve as the lead Federal agency for proposed actions which it proposes and over which no other Federal agency has jurisdiction by law to permit, approve, or authorize a required aspect of the proposed action. When serving as the lead agency, NASA is ultimately responsible for completing the NEPA process and will determine and document the scope of the project at hand. When a joint lead relationship is established pursuant to NEPA sec. 107(a)(1)(B), 42 U.S.C. 4336a(a)(1)(B), NASA and the other joint lead agency or agencies are collectively responsible for completing the NEPA process.

(b) If NASA shares responsibility with another Federal agency for NEPA compliance, NASA and the other agency shall, prior to issuing a notice to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement, determine by letter or memorandum, which agency shall be the lead agency based on consideration of the:

(1) Magnitude of each agency's involvement.

(2) Project approval or disapproval authority.

(3) Expertise concerning the proposed action's environmental effects.

(4) Duration of each agency's involvement.

(5) Sequence of each agency's involvement.

(c) In deciding under paragraph (b) of this section, NASA and other participating Federal agencies may agree to appoint such State, Tribal, or local agencies as joint lead agencies as the involved Federal agencies determine to be necessary.

(d) When serving as the lead agency, NASA may, with respect to a proposed agency action, designate any Federal, State, Tribal, or local agency that has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved in a proposal to serve as a cooperating agency. A cooperating agency may, not later than a date specified in the schedule established by NASA, submit comments on the environmental document being prepared for the proposed action.

(e) NASA may request other Federal, State, Tribal, or local agencies to serve as participating agencies in the NEPA process where the Federal, State, Tribal, or local agency has particularized knowledge regarding an aspect of the project that will beneficially inform development of the environmental document and subsequent final agency decision making on the proposed action. A participating agency may, not later than a date specified in the schedule established by NASA, submit comments on the environmental document being prepared for the proposed action.

(f) To the extent practicable, NASA will prepare a single, coordinated environmental document for NEPA actions with joint, cooperating, and participating agencies.

(a) For every environmental impact statement prepared by NASA, the following requirements, at a minimum, shall be implemented:

(1) Publication of a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement on a public-facing website. The notice of intent for an environmental impact statement will include a request for public comments on alternatives or effects and on relevant information, studies, or analyses with respect to the proposed agency action. In addition to a request for comment required for notices of intent for environmental impact statements, the notice of intent may include:

(i) The purpose and need for the proposed action;

(ii) A preliminary description of the proposed action and alternatives the environmental impact statement will consider;

(iii) A brief summary of expected effects;

(iv) Anticipated permits and other authorizations (i.e., anticipated related actions);

(v) A schedule for the decision-making process;

(vi) A description of the public scoping process, including any scoping meeting(s);

(vii) Contact information for a person within NASA who can answer questions about the proposed action and the environmental impact statement; and

(viii) Identification of any cooperating and participating agencies and any information that such agencies require in the notice to facilitate their decisions or authorizations.

(2) Publication of a notice of availability and notice of additional public meetings, and/or additional request for comments (collectively, “NOA”), as applicable, for the environmental impact statement on a public-facing website.

(i) The NOA may solicit public comment on the sufficiency of the environmental analysis set forth in the environmental impact statement, and should announce the date, time, and location of any public meetings, either in-person or virtual, concerning the proposed action.

(ii) [Reserved]

(3) Publication of the record of decision, if applicable, on a public-facing website.

(b) For every environmental assessment prepared by NASA, the following requirements, at a minimum, shall be implemented:

(1) NASA will provide notice on a public-facing website that an environmental assessment will be prepared.

(2) NASA will make the environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact available on a public-facing website.

(c) NASA may use an early and open process to determine the scope of issues for analysis in an environmental document, including identifying substantive issues that meaningfully inform the consideration of environmental effects and the resulting decision on how to proceed, eliminating from further study non-substantive issues, and determining whether connected actions should be addressed in the same environmental document. Scoping may begin as soon as practicable after the proposal for action is sufficiently developed for consideration. Scoping may include appropriate pre-application procedures or work conducted prior to publication of the notice of intent.

(a) For actions that require environmental assessments or environmental impact statements, NASA will undertake programmatic-level analysis for actions that are similar in nature, broad in scope, or likely to have similar environmental effects, as applicable. Programmatic NEPA analyses may take place in the form of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.

(b) Tiering from previously prepared environmental impact statements or environmental assessments is appropriate when it would eliminate repetitive discussions of the same issues and exclude from consideration issues already decided. Tiering from a programmatic-level NEPA document is appropriate for site- or project-specific actions that are included within the scope of the programmatic-level analysis.

(c) NASA may use programmatic environmental impact statements or environmental assessments without additional review for five years from the publication date unless there are substantial new circumstances or information about the significance of adverse effects that bear on the analysis

(d) After five years, NASA may use programmatic environmental impact statements and environmental assessments after the analysis and assumptions in the environmental impact statement or environmental assessment are reevaluated to ensure reliance of the analysis is still valid. Reevaluation will be documented in a record of environmental consideration or memorandum to the file, including explanation for why the analysis remains valid considering any new and substantial information or circumstances.

(e) NASA may rely on another Federal agency's environmental impact statement or environmental assessment, or portion thereof, if NASA conducts an independent review of the document and concludes that it meets the standards for an adequate environmental impact review, pursuant to this part and 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. When relying on an environmental impact statement, environmental assessment, or portion thereof, NASA will cite, briefly describe the content and relevance to the environmental document, and may make modifications that are necessary to render the relied-upon document, or portion thereof, fit for fulfilling NEPA's analytic requirements for the action at hand.

(1) If the actions covered by the original environmental impact statement or environmental assessment and the proposed action are substantially the same, NASA will republish the relied-upon statement or assessment.

(2) If the actions are not substantially the same, NASA may modify the statement or assessment as necessary to render the statement fit for fulfilling NEPA's analytic requirements for the action at hand, and publish the relied-upon statement or assessment, as modified. Where appropriate, NASA may solicit comment to the extent that solicitation of comment will assist NASA in expeditiously adapting the relied-upon statement or assessment so that it is fit for NASA's purposes.

(f) NASA shall include by reference material such as planning studies, analyses, or other relevant information, into an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment when the effect will be to cut down on bulk without impeding NASA and public review of the action. NASA shall cite the referenced material in the document and briefly describe its content. NASA shall not include material by reference unless it is reasonably available for inspection by potentially interested persons. NASA shall not include by reference material based on proprietary data that is not available for review and comment. NASA shall not use inclusion by reference to evade the statutory page limits.

NASA will combine, to the fullest extent practicable, any NEPA document with any other Federal agency NEPA document to reduce duplication and paperwork.

(a) In cases where a major Federal action remains to occur, supplemental documentation may be required for previously prepared environmental assessments or environmental impact statements under the following circumstances:

(1) If substantial changes are made to the proposed action that are relevant to environmental concerns.

(2) There are significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the proposed action and its impacts.

(3) NASA determines that the purposes of NEPA will be furthered by doing so.

(b) The preparation of a supplemental environmental assessment or environmental impact statement shall be undertaken using the same procedural requirements as the initial document however, in the event a supplement to an environmental impact statement is required, public scoping shall not be required unless, at NASA's discretion, it is determined to be necessary or would otherwise further the purposes of NEPA.

(c) When it is unclear if an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement supplement is required, NASA may prepare a written reevaluation.

(1) The written reevaluation will discuss the circumstances that are pertinent to deciding whether to prepare a supplemental environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.

(2) The written reevaluation will contain sufficient information for NASA to determine whether:

(i) An existing environmental assessment or environmental impact statement should be supplemented;

(ii) A new environmental assessment or environmental impact statement should be prepared; or

(iii) No further NEPA documentation is required.

(3) NASA shall make the determination and the related written reevaluation available to the public for information.

(d) When applicable, NASA shall incorporate the determination and supporting written reevaluation into the administrative record related to the action that is the subject of the environmental assessment or environmental impact statement supplement or determination.

(a) NASA will not undertake new scientific and technical research to inform its analyses unless it is essential to a reasoned choice among alternatives and the overall costs and time frame of such undertaking are not unreasonable. Rather, NASA will make use of reliable existing data and resources.

(b) When NASA is evaluating an action's reasonably foreseeable effects on the human environment, and there is incomplete or unavailable information that cannot be obtained at a reasonable cost or the means to obtain it are unknown, NASA will make clear in the relevant NEPA document that such information is lacking.

(a) To the fullest extent possible, NASA will prepare NEPA documents concurrently with and integrated with analyses and related surveys and studies required by other Federal statutes.

(b) NASA will combine a NEPA document with any other agency document to reduce duplication and paperwork. Thus, NASA may combine a NEPA document with related plans, rules, or amendments as a single consolidated document.

(c) If comments on a notice of intent or other aspects of a scoping process identify consultations, permits, or licenses necessary under other environmental laws, the NEPA document may contain a section briefly listing the applicable requirements and how NASA or a non-Federal entity has or will meet them (e.g., permits applied for or received, consultations initiated or concluded).

(a) When the analysis proceeds to an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement and mitigation measures are assumed for the purpose of avoiding or reducing the significance of environmental impacts, such mitigation measures will be identified in the finding of no significant impact or the record of decision.

(b) NASA or the non-Federal project sponsor shall implement mitigation measures (including adaptive management strategies, where appropriate) consistent with applicable finding of no significant impact and/or record of decision and as required shall monitor their implementation and effectiveness.

(c) The NASA responsible official or non-Federal project sponsor shall ensure that funding for such mitigation measures is included in the program or project budget.

(a) NASA will cooperate with State, Tribal, and local agencies that are responsible for preparing environmental documents.

(b) To the fullest extent practicable unless specifically prohibited by law, NASA will cooperate with State, Tribal, and local agencies to reduce duplication between NEPA and State, Tribal, and local requirements, including through use of studies, analysis, and decisions developed by State, Tribal, or local agencies. Such cooperation may include:

(1) Joint planning processes.

(2) Joint environmental research and studies.

(3) Joint public meetings (except where otherwise provided by statute).

(4) Joint environmental documents.

When NASA determines that emergency circumstances exist which make it necessary to take immediate response and/or recovery action(s) before preparing a NEPA analysis, then the following provisions apply:

(a) NASA may undertake immediate emergency response and/or recovery action(s) necessary to protect life, property, or important natural, cultural, or historic resources. When taking such action(s), NASA shall, to the extent practicable, mitigate reasonably foreseeable adverse environmental impacts.

(b) If NASA proposes emergency response and/or recovery actions that will continue beyond those needed to immediately protect life, property, and important natural, cultural, or historic resources, NASA shall determine the appropriate level of NEPA compliance.

(c) If continuation of the emergency actions will reasonably result in significant environmental impacts, NASA shall notify CEQ about alternative arrangements for compliance.

(a) The classified status of a proposed action does not relieve NASA of the requirement to assess, document, and consider the environmental impacts of the proposed action.

(b) When classified information can reasonably be separated from other information and a meaningful environmental analysis can be produced, unclassified documents will be prepared and processed in accordance with this section. Classified portions will be kept separate and provided to properly cleared reviewers and decision makers in the form of a properly classified document that meets the requirements of this section to the extent permitted, given such classification.