[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR1021.4]

[Page 63-64]
 
                     TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
 
             CHAPTER II--CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
 
PART 1021--ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW--Table of Contents
 
                           Subpart A--General
 
Sec. 1021.4  Overview of environmental review process for CPSC actions.

    The environmental review process normally begins during the staff 
development of a proposed action and progresses through the following 
steps:
    (a) Environmental assessment. (Section 1508.9 of the NEPA 
regulations). The assessment is initiated along with the staff 
development of a proposal and the identification of realistic 
alternatives. The assessment shall be available to the Commission before 
the Commission votes on a proposal and its alternatives. Its purpose is 
to identify and describe foreseeable effects on the environment, if any, 
of the action and its alternatives. The assessment culminates in a 
written report. This report generally contains analyses of the same 
categories of information as would an EIS, but in a much less 
detailed fashion. (See Sec. 1021.10(a),

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below.) It contains sufficient information to form a basis for deciding 
whether effects on the environment are likely to be ``significant.'' 
(See Sec. 1508.27 of the NEPA regulations.).
    (b) Decision as to significance of effects on the environment. This 
decision is made by the Executive Director of the CPSC and is based upon 
the results of the environmental assessment as well as any other 
pertinent information. If the effects are significant, CPSC publishes in 
the Federal Register a notice of intent to prepare an environmental 
impact statement. (See Sec. 1508.22 of the NEPA regulations.) If not, a 
finding of no significant impact is prepared. (Section 1508.13 of the 
NEPA regulations.)
    (c) Finding of no significant impact. This is a written document 
which gives reasons for concluding that the effects of a proposed 
action, or its alternatives, on the environment will not be significant. 
Together with the environmental assessment, it explains the basis for 
not preparing an EIS. The finding of no significant impact is signed by 
the Executive Director. The finding of no significant impact and the 
environmental assessment accompany the proposed action throughout the 
Commission decision-making process.
    (d) Draft environmental impact statement. The content of a draft EIS 
is described in Sec. 1021.12, below. For a particular proposal, the 
breadth of issues to be discussed is determined by using the scoping 
process described in Sec. 1501.7 of the NEPA regulations. The draft EIS 
pertaining to a proposed rule is before the Commission at the time it 
considers the proposed action and is available to the public when the 
notice of proposed rulemaking is published or as soon as possible 
thereafter. In appropriate instances, the Federal Register preamble for 
a proposed rule may serve as the draft EIS. The draft EIS shall 
accompany the proposed action throughout the remainder of the Commission 
decision-making process.
    (e) Final EIS. The content of this document is described in 
Sec. 1021.12. A final EIS responds to all substantive comments on the 
draft statement. It is before the Commission when it considers a final 
action.
    (f) Supplemental statements. When CPSC makes changes in the proposed 
action that are important to environmental issues or when there is 
significant new environmental information, the Executive Director 
instructs CPSC staff to prepare supplements to either the draft or final 
EIS (See Sec. 1502.9(c) of the NEPA regulations).
    (g) Record of decision. (Sections 1505.2 and 1506.1 of the NEPA 
regulations.) At the time of a decision on a proposed action which 
involves an EIS, CPSC prepares a written record of decision explaining 
the decision and why any alternatives discussed in the EIS were 
rejected. This written record is signed by the Secretary of the 
Commission for the Commission. No action going forward on the proposal 
may be taken until the record of decision is signed and filed in the 
Office of the Secretary of the Commission.