NASA’s NEPA Regulations
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) at NASA
NASA is Updating their NEPA Regulations
Title 14 CFR 1216.3, Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act
NASA’s NEPA regulations were last updated in 2012. Following the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Establishing, Applying, and Revising Categorical Exclusions Under the National Environmental Policy Act, NASA developed a process and timeline to review their categorical exclusions at least every seven years. NASA first informed the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) of the need to update the agency NEPA regulations (14 CFR 1216.3) in October 2018 and presented the initial proposed revisions to CEQ in February 2019. An internal cross-functional Work Group (see 2020 NEPA Preparers below) drafted the proposed revision. NASA continued to work with CEQ throughout 2019 in developing the proposed rule, that was submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to be a part of their 2020 Spring Unified Agenda. Once approved, NASA’s proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register later this year for public review and comment. The Federal Register notice will also be posted here.
Information regarding the 2012 Update to the NASA NEPA Rule can be found in the link below:
