(a) The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy, Evaluation and
Research (ASPER) 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.
