scope:

Purpose and scope.

(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)).

Applicability.

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 Office of Job Corps which purchases and leases land and constructs Job Corps centers pursuant to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801, 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.