§ 11.3 Responsible agency officials.

(a) The Assistant Secretary for Policy shall be responsible for the following:

(1) Overall review of Department of Labor agency compliance with the requirements of NEPA, the CEQ's regulations and these Departmental procedures;

(2) Maintaining contacts with CEQ and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the Departmental NEPA liaison; and

(3) Preparing and coordinating Departmental comments in response to environmental impact statements prepared by other Federal agencies which have been submitted to the Department for review, as required by 40 CFR 1503.2.

(b) Assistant Secretaries of Labor and other officials of equivalent rank or responsibility (hereinafter “agency heads”) shall be responsible for their agencies' compliance with NEPA.

(1) These responsibilities shall include the following:

(i) Assuring that the agencies under their control observe the requirements of 40 CFR 1507.2 on compliance capability;

(ii) Preparing environmental impact assessments and statements in accordance with the requirements of these regulations and 40 CFR parts 1501 and 1502, and advising private applicants, or other non-Federal entities, of the possible need for information foreseeably required for later Federal action pursuant to 40 CFR 1501.2(d);

(iii) Assuring public participation in the NEPA process in accordance with 40 CFR parts 1503 and 1506;

(iv) Commenting on environmental impact statements prepared by other agencies, when their agencies have jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impacts connected with a proposed action, as required by 40 CFR part 1503;

(v) Assuring that environmental documents prepared by their agencies accompany proposed actions through existing agency review processes, and that, along with other relevant materials, and consistent with 40 CFR 1505.1(e), the full range of alternatives discussed in these documents are considered in the planning of agency actions and in the making of decisions and that the alternatives considered are encompassed by those discussed in the documents; and

(vi) Assuring, where possible, the mitigation of adverse environmental effects of agency actions.

(2) In accordance with 40 CFR 1506.5(c), agency heads will also be responsible for assuring the quality of environmental impact statements prepared by their agencies. Where environmental impact statements will be prepared by a contractor, the agency heads will assure that their agencies furnish guidance to the contractor, participate in the document's preparation, independently evaluate the statement prior to approval and take responsibility for the scope and contents.

(c) Agency heads may designate program offices or individuals as NEPA contacts for their agencies. The name and address of the NEPA contact shall be included on the cover sheet of each environmental document published by the agency, or if no cover sheet is provided, the name and address of this office or individual shall be included with any instructions to the public on obtaining further information or submitting comments on the document.

(1) It shall be the duty of an agency's NEPA contact to know the status of all environmental documents being prepared by the agency or in cooperation with another agency.

(2) The NEPA contact shall receive and respond to inquiries concerning the status of all environmental documents being prepared within the agency or in cooperation with another agency.

[45 FR 51188, Aug. 1, 1980, as amended at 71 FR 16665, Apr. 3, 2006]