🌿Business Implications of 2024 National Wetland Plant List Update
The National Wetland Plant List (NWPL) provides plant species indicator status ratings, which are used in determining whether the hydrophytic vegetation factor is met when conducting wetland delineations under the Clean Water Act and section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act and wetland determinations under the Wetland Conservation Provisions of the Food Security Act. Other applications of the NWPL include wetland restoration, establishment, and enhancement projects. To update the NWPL, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), as part of an interagency effort with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is announcing the availability of the draft changes to the 2024 NWPL to solicit public comments. The public will now have the opportunity to comment on the proposed changes to wetland indicator status ratings for ten plant species over five different regions.
Learn More📜BLM Response to Utah Governor's Appeal on Land Management Plan
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is publishing this notice to explain why the Department of the Interior denied the Governor of Utah's recommendations regarding the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Learn More🌱New NEPA Procedures for Geothermal Resource Development Announced
This notice announces a revision to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at Chapter 11 of part 516 of the Department of the Interior's Departmental Manual (516 DM 11). The revision adds a new categorical exclusion (CX) for geothermal resource confirmation activities on Federal geothermal resource leases.
Learn More🌿Notice on Categorical Exclusions and Business Impact Under NEPA
The Department of the Interior is notifying the public and documenting the adoption of two U.S. Forest Service, one National Park Service, and three U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service categorical exclusions (CXs) by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), under section 109 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In accordance with section 109, this notice identifies the types of actions to which the BLM will apply the CXs, the considerations that the BLM will use in determining the applicability of the CXs, and the consultation between the agencies on the use of the CXs, including application of extraordinary circumstances.
Learn More🌊NEPA Revisions Impact Financial Assistance for Water Businesses
This notice announces the revision of seven categorical exclusions (CEs) listed in the Bureau of Reclamation's procedures for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The revisions clarify existing CEs on certain financial assistance funding, water-related contracting, and use authorization actions to allow for more consistent interpretation and more efficient review of appropriate actions based on the Reclamation's experience implementing these CEs.
Learn More🌲USDA Withdraws Notice for Old-Growth Forest Land Management Plan
The United States Department of Agriculture is withdrawing its notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Land Management Plan Direction for Old-Growth Forest Conditions Across the National Forest System.
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