National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation's Categorical Exclusions (opens in new tab)Categorical Exclusion
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Exclusion Text
(b) Most NSF awards support individual scientific research projects and are not “major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment” except in the sense that the long term effect of the accumulation of human knowledge is likely to affect the quality of the human environment. However, such long term effects are basically speculative and unknowable in advance; thus they normally do not provide a sufficient basis for classifying research as subject to NEPA (See 40 CFR 1508.8) and are categorically excluded from an environmental assessment. Nevertheless, in some cases the actual procedures used in carrying out the research may have potential environmental effects, particularly where the project requires construction of facilities or major disturbance of the local environment brought about by blasting, drilling, excavating, or other means. Accordingly, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, the following types of activities require at least an environmental assessment:
Disclaimer
This CE Explorer tool is not an authoritative source and creates no rights or obligations. When using the CE Explorer Tool, Federal agencies and stakeholders should review the relevant agency's NEPA procedures for information about how to apply the CE, including any limitations or potential extraordinary circumstances, and to ensure that a CE is current and applicable to a given proposed action. For ease of use, a link to each agency's NEPA procedures and CEs is provided along with the text of the CE. To adopt and use another agency's categorical exclusion, an agency must follow the steps described in section 109 of NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4336c.
