§ 26.13 — Responsibilities.

§ 26.13 Responsibilities.

(a) Successful completion. The successful completion of the NEPA process is the duty of:

(1) VA elements;

(2) Persons authorizing or approving VA actions; and

(3) Persons charged by VA to ensure the successful implementation of any and all elements of NEPA.

(b) Applicants. VA relies upon applicants to supply the environmental information necessary to complete the NEPA analysis of proposed VA funded and Federal assistance actions and alternatives. VA retains the responsibility for compliance with NEPA and cannot delegate this responsibility to applicants.

(c) Secretary of VA. The Secretary of VA recognizes the importance of environmental stewardship and promotes the integration of an environmental ethic into all agency decision-making. The Secretary possesses the ultimate responsibility to ensure VA's compliance with NEPA and other environmental planning requirements.

(1) The Secretary has the following objectives for the NEPA process:

(i) Efficient, timely, and effective NEPA planning;

(ii) Maintenance of sufficient resources to meet the goals of timely, effective, and high-quality NEPA analyses;

(iii) Full compliance with all environmental laws, regulations, and Executive orders; and

(iv) Consistency with other VA mission objectives, including service to veterans, fiscal responsibility, and national security.

(2) The Secretary will:

(i) Consider the environmental effects of his/her decisions;

(ii) Plan, program, and budget for the requirements of this part;

(iii) Fully integrate the requirements of this part into planning and decision-making for all policies, programs, activities, and operations of VA; and

(iv) Delegate the authority to the Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and Directors of Staff Offices to implement the requirements of this part, including designation of the NEPA Implementation Officer; delegation of the authority to review NEPA analyses for technical adequacy and to sign NEPA decision documents based on technical adequacy; and delegation of overall agency NEPA compliance to the Senior Agency Official, who VA will specify in an agency-wide directive on NEPA roles and responsibilities. The Senior Agency Official is an individual with assistant secretary rank or higher and is typically within the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction.

(d) Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and Directors of Staff Offices. The Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and Directors of Staff Offices or their delegate will:

(1) Assess environmental and historic preservation consequences of proposed, new, and on-going programs within their respective organizational units; and

(2) Delegate to points of contact within their organizations as needed to support NEPA compliance.

(e) Decision-makers. VA decision-makers may include but are not limited to Under Secretaries; medical center and cemetery administration directors; and regional medical, benefits, and cemetery administration directors. VA decision-makers will:

(1) Integrate environmental and historic preservation considerations into their decision-making prior to taking action; and

(2) Sign decision documents, as specified in an agency-wide directive on NEPA roles and responsibilities.

(f) NEPA Implementation Officer. The NEPA Implementation Officer is designated by the Secretary or the Secretary's designee, and has the authority to implement the Secretary's objectives for the NEPA process. The NEPA Implementation Officer has the requisite expertise and experience with NEPA to manage implementation of NEPA throughout VA. Typically, the NEPA Implementation Officer is a director within the Office of Construction & Facilities Management; VA will specify the location of this function in an agency-wide directive on NEPA roles and responsibilities.

(1) Support VA's compliance with NEPA and other environmental planning requirements;

(2) Provide technical expertise and guidance for proposed plans, programs, and activities throughout VA;

(3) Inform key environmental staff and Under Secretaries, the Senior Agency Official, Assistant Secretaries, and Directors of Staff Offices about the methods and status of NEPA implementation throughout VA programs and offices;

(4) Advise proponents, decision-makers, and procurement officials on the status and requirements for the NEPA analysis of VA actions;

(5) Develop and provide, as needed, supplemental guidance and training to enable the effective implementation of this part and other environmental planning requirements across all VA elements;

(6) Promote early outreach and solicitation of environmental information for NEPA analysis;

(7) Coordinate requests for cooperating agency status and joint lead agency status and coordinate with State, local, and Tribal agencies as needed with respect to completion of the NEPA process;

(8) Liaise with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other Federal agencies as needed to satisfy coordination requirements and implement the NEPA process;

(9) Promote the involvement of the public and other non-Federal entities in the NEPA analysis of VA actions with respect to completion of the NEPA process;

(10) Identify discretionary activities within VA and ensure that VA fully integrates the requirements of this part into the planning and implementation of those activities;

(11) Sign records of decision (RODs) for environmental technical adequacy;

(12) Review and approve requests from NEPA Specialists to adopt other agencies' CATEXs in accordance with § 26.31 or rely on NEPA documents from other Federal agencies in accordance with § 26.71;

(13) Work with the Senior Agency Official, Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and Directors of Staff Offices to accomplish the VA mission in harmony with environmental stewardship by:

(i) Ensuring the NEPA process is complete before VA makes a decision or takes an action concerning the proposal that has an adverse environmental effect or limits the choice of reasonable alternatives;

(ii) Ensuring VA elements are aware of mitigation commitments to address the potential environmental effects of VA programs, projects, and plans; and

(iii) Monitoring the NEPA process to ensure compliance with timing, page limit, scoping, consultation, circulation, and public engagement requirements; and

(14) Delegating authority to sign NEPA documents to NEPA Specialists as appropriate.

(g) Proponent. Proponents are those VA staff in project or functional management positions in a facility or component organization within the Veterans Health Administration, National Cemetery Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration, or a VA program office. Proponents do not include applicants, non-Federal entities, or entities located organizationally outside of the VA element that is responsible for implementing the project. The proponent will:

(1) Consult with a NEPA Specialist or the NEPA Implementation Officer at the beginning of the planning and feasibility stage of any proposed action and before involving the public;

(2) Ensure the budget for a proposed VA action is adequate to comply with applicable environmental and historic preservation laws;

(3) Ensure the schedule for the proposed VA action includes sufficient time for compliance with relevant environmental and historic preservation laws, including NEPA and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA);

(4) Initiate and coordinate with the appropriate environmental support to conduct the NEPA analysis prior to undertaking an action;

(5) Review and consider NEPA analyses before making a decision that has environmental or historic preservation effects or limits the choices of alternatives for a VA action; and

(6) Consider mitigation measures and ensure VA requires and provides for mitigation tasks and monitoring.

(h) NEPA Specialists. NEPA Specialists act as the technical specialists in VA for matters relating to the NEPA process and help to ensure its functional integration into the VA mission. NEPA Specialists support the NEPA Implementation Officer with advice and assistance for implementing NEPA in their respective offices and programs. NEPA Specialists may include but are not limited to facility environmental managers, national and regional environmental staff, and other staff specialists throughout VA. NEPA Specialists will:

(1) Act to support and ensure compliance with the requirements of NEPA, this part, applicable Executive orders, and other environmental and historic preservation requirements in conjunction with the proponent;

(2) Provide technical advice on the NEPA process to proponents, decision-makers, the NEPA Implementation Officer, and Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and Directors of Staff Offices; and

(3) Sign decision documents for technical adequacy, with the project decision itself documented by the approval signature on each decision document as specified throughout this section and in an agency-wide directive on NEPA roles and responsibilities.

(i) Procurement Officials. The Procurement Officials will expeditiously support and execute contract actions to support completion of NEPA analyses within required timeframes.

(j) Office of General Counsel. The Office of General Counsel will:

(1) Advise VA, in consultation with the NEPA Implementation Officer, on whether a proposed action is subject to the procedural requirements of NEPA, NHPA, the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544), or other environmental or historic preservation laws, Executive orders, and regulations;

(2) Advise VA on compliance with environmental and historic preservation laws, regulations, applicable Executive orders, and other planning requirements;

(3) Assist in establishing or revising VA's NEPA procedures and guidance documents, including appropriate CATEXs; and

(4) Provide VA with legal sufficiency reviews on environmental and historic preservation analyses, programmatic agreements, interagency agreements, consultations with other Federal agencies, and general legal advice as needed.

(k) Federal Preservation Officer. The Federal Preservation Officer will:

(1) Act as the single point of contact for all matters in VA related to stewardship of historic properties and cultural resources;

(2) Inform Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Directors of Staff Offices, and key environmental and historic preservation staff of current developments in historic preservation policy and programs;

(3) Provide guidance to VA project proponents and advise as needed in consultations with Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and State Historic Preservation Officers; and

(4) Determine which personnel, VA staff, or contractors are qualified to meet the requirements of section 112 of the NHPA (54 U.S.C. 306131) and work on historic resources issues.

(l) Senior Agency Official. The Senior Agency Official is an individual with assistant secretary rank or higher. The Senior Agency Official is typically within the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction, and will be specified in an agency-wide directive on NEPA roles and responsibilities. The Senior Agency Official will:

(1) Act as the designee for oversight over VA NEPA compliance;

(2) Promote timely NEPA analysis;

(3) Review and approve requests for VA to serve as the lead agency for joint Federal NEPA actions, where VA and one or more Federal agencies are cooperating on a project;

(4) Resolve implementation issues; and

(5) Delegate authority for these responsibilities as appropriate.