The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), under an interim final rule published on July 3, substantially revised its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures, identifying “administrative and routine actions” that do not require NEPA review (formerly categorical exclusions) of Appendix A in 10 CFR part 1021.
This redesignation includes site characterization and environmental monitoring typically done under CERCLA and RCRA including siting, construction, modification, operation, and dismantlement, removal, or closure of a well or monitoring devices, and siting, construction, and associated operation of a small-scale laboratory building or renovation of a room in an existing building for sample analysis.
Such activities would be designed in conformance with applicable requirements and use best management practices to limit the potential effects of any resultant ground disturbance.
Specific activities listed include:
- Geological, geophysical (such as gravity, magnetic, electrical, seismic, radar, and temperature gradient), geochemical, and engineering surveys and mapping, and the establishment of survey marks. Seismic techniques would not include large-scale reflection or refraction testing.
- Installation and operation of field instruments (such as stream-gauging stations or flow-measuring devices, telemetry systems, geochemical monitoring tools, and geophysical exploration tools).
- Drilling of wells for sampling or monitoring of groundwater or the vadose (unsaturated) zone, well logging, and installation of water-level recording devices in wells.
- Aquifer and underground reservoir response testing.
- Installation and operation of ambient air monitoring equipment.
- Sampling and characterization of water, soil, rock, or contaminants (such as drilling using truck- or mobile- scale equipment, and modification, use, and plugging of boreholes).
Read the complete text in the Federal Register.