[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 40, Volume 31]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 40CFR1508.18]



[Page 893]

 

                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT

 

               CHAPTER V--COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

 

PART 1508_TERMINOLOGY AND INDEX--Table of Contents

 

Sec.  1508.18  Major Federal action.



    Major Federal action includes actions with effects that may be major 

and which are potentially subject to Federal control and responsibility. 

Major reinforces but does not have a meaning independent of 

significantly (Sec.  1508.27). Actions include the circumstance where 

the responsible officials fail to act and that failure to act is 

reviewable by courts or administrative tribunals under the 

Administrative Procedure Act or other applicable law as agency action.

    (a) Actions include new and continuing activities, including 

projects and programs entirely or partly financed, assisted, conducted, 

regulated, or approved by federal agencies; new or revised agency rules, 

regulations, plans, policies, or procedures; and legislative proposals 

(Sec. Sec.  1506.8, 1508.17). Actions do not include funding assistance 

solely in the form of general revenue sharing funds, distributed under 

the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972, 31 U.S.C. 1221 et 

seq., with no Federal agency control over the subsequent use of such 

funds. Actions do not include bringing judicial or administrative civil 

or criminal enforcement actions.

    (b) Federal actions tend to fall within one of the following 

categories:

    (1) Adoption of official policy, such as rules, regulations, and 

interpretations adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 

U.S.C. 551 et seq.; treaties and international conventions or 

agreements; formal documents establishing an agency's policies which 

will result in or substantially alter agency programs.

    (2) Adoption of formal plans, such as official documents prepared or 

approved by federal agencies which guide or prescribe alternative uses 

of Federal resources, upon which future agency actions will be based.

    (3) Adoption of programs, such as a group of concerted actions to 

implement a specific policy or plan; systematic and connected agency 

decisions allocating agency resources to implement a specific statutory 

program or executive directive.

    (4) Approval of specific projects, such as construction or 

management activities located in a defined geographic area. Projects 

include actions approved by permit or other regulatory decision as well 

as federal and federally assisted activities.