Environmental Policies and Procedures

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) hereby amends its existing environmental regulations, Environmental Policies and Procedures, which have served as RUS' implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in compliance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the NEPA. Based on a greater use of small-scale and distributed generation and renewable resources, and the agency's experience and review of its existing procedures, RUS has determined that several changes are necessary for its environmental review process to operate in a more effective and efficient manner.