[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 15, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 15CFR930.31]

[Page 239-240]
 
                  TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
 
CHAPTER IX--NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT 
                               OF COMMERCE
 
PART 930--FEDERAL CONSISTENCY WITH APPROVED COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS--Table of Contents
 
          Subpart C--Consistency for Federal Agency Activities
 
Sec. 930.31  Federal agency activity.

    (a) The term ``Federal agency activity'' means any functions 
performed by or on behalf of a Federal agency in the exercise of its 
statutory responsibilities. This encompasses a wide range of Federal 
agency activities which initiate an event or series of events where 
coastal effects are reasonably foreseeable, e.g., rulemaking, planning, 
physical alteration, exclusion of uses. The term ``Federal agency 
activity'' does not include the issuance of a federal license or permit 
to an applicant or person (see subparts D and E of this part) or the 
granting of federal assistance to an applicant agency (see subpart F of 
this part).
    (b) The term federal ``development project'' means a Federal agency 
activity involving the planning, construction, modification, or removal 
of public works, facilities, or other structures, and includes the 
acquisition, use, or disposal of any coastal use or resource.
    (c) The Federal agency activity category is a residual category for 
federal actions that are not covered under subparts D, E, or F of this 
part.
    (d) A general permit program proposed by a Federal agency is subject 
to this subpart if the general permit program does not involve case-by-
case approval by the Federal agency, unless a Federal agency chooses to 
subject its general permit program to consistency review under subpart D 
of this part, by providing the State agency with a consistency 
certification. When proposing a general permit program, a Federal agency 
shall provide a consistency determination to the relevant management 
programs and request that the State agency(ies) provide the Federal 
agency with conditions that would permit the State agency to concur with 
the Federal agency's consistency determination. State concurrence shall 
remove the need for the State agency to review future case-by-case uses 
of the

[[Page 240]]

general permit for consistency with the enforceable policies of 
management programs. Federal agencies shall, to the maximum extent 
practicable, incorporate the State conditions into the general permit. 
If the State conditions are not incorporated into the general permit or 
a State agency objects to the general permit, then the Federal agency 
shall notify potential users of the general permit that the general 
permit is not authorized for that State unless the State agency concurs 
that the activity is consistent with the enforceable policies of its 
management program. Accordingly, the applicants in those States shall 
provide the State agency with a consistency certification under subpart 
D of this part.
    (e) The terms ``Federal agency activity'' and ``Federal development 
project'' also include modifications of any such activity or development 
project which affect any coastal use or resource, provided that, in the 
case of modifications of an activity or development project which the 
State agency has previously reviewed, the effect on any coastal use or 
resource is substantially different than those previously reviewed by 
the State agency.