[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 24, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 24CFR50.20]

[Page 372-373]
 
                 TITLE 24--HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
 
PART 50_PROTECTION AND ENHANCEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY--Table of 
Contents
 
        Subpart D_General Policy: Environmental Review Procedures
 
Sec. 50.20  Categorical exclusions subject to the Federal laws and 
authorities cited in Sec. 50.4.

    (a) The following actions, activities and programs are categorically 
excluded from the NEPA requirements of this part. They are not excluded 
from individual compliance requirements of other environmental statutes, 
Executive orders and HUD standards cited in Sec. 50.4, where 
appropriate. Form HUD-4128 shall be used to document compliance. Where 
the responsible official determines that any item identified below may 
have an environmental effect because of extraordinary circumstances (40 
CFR 1508.4), the requirements of NEPA shall apply (see paragraph (b) of 
this section).
    (1) Special projects directed to the removal of material and 
architectural barriers that restrict the mobility of and accessibility 
to elderly and persons with disabilities.
    (2) Rehabilitation of buildings and improvements when the following 
conditions are met:
    (i) In the case of a building for residential use (with one to four 
units), the density is not increased beyond four units, the land use is 
not changed, and the footprint of the building is not increased in a 
floodplain or in a wetland;
    (ii) In the case of multifamily residential buildings:
    (A) Unit density is not changed more than 20 percent;
    (B) The project does not involve changes in land use from 
residential to non-residential; and
    (C) The estimated cost of rehabilitation is less than 75 percent of 
the total estimated cost of replacement after rehabilitation.
    (iii) In the case of non-residential structures, including 
commercial, industrial, and public buildings:

[[Page 373]]

    (A) The facilities and improvements are in place and will not be 
changed in size nor capacity by more than 20 percent; and
    (B) The activity does not involve a change in land use, such as from 
non-residential to residential, commercial to industrial, or from one 
industrial use to another.
    (3)(i) An individual action on up to four dwelling units where there 
is a maximum of four units on any one site. The units can be four one-
unit buildings or one four-unit building or any combination in between; 
or
    (ii) An individual action on a project of five or more housing units 
developed on scattered sites when the sites are more than 2,000 feet 
apart and there are not more than four housing units on any one site.
    (iii) Paragraphs (a)(3)(i) and (ii) of this section do not apply to 
rehabilitation of a building for residential use (with one to four 
units) (see paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section).
    (4) Acquisition (including leasing) or disposition of, or equity 
loans on an existing structure, or acquisition (including leasing) of 
vacant land provided that the structure or land acquired, financed, or 
disposed of will be retained for the same use.
    (5) Purchased or refinanced housing and medical facilities under 
section 223(f) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715n).
    (6) Mortgage prepayments or plans of action (including incentives) 
under 24 CFR part 248.
    (b) For categorical exclusions having the potential for significant 
impact because of extraordinary circumstances, HUD must prepare an EA in 
accordance with subpart E. If it is evident without preparing an EA that 
an EIS is required pursuant to Sec. 50.42, HUD should proceed directly 
to the preparation of an EIS in accordance with subpart F.

[61 FR 50916, Sept. 27, 1996, as amended at 68 FR 56127, Sept. 29, 2003]