Page 25 - Highway Engineering Handbook Building and Rehabilitating the Infrastructure

8 CHAPTER ONE

TABLE 1.2 Actions Categorically Excluded from Further Review by FHWA
1. Activities that do not involve or lead directly to construction
2. Approval of utility installations along or across a transportation facility
3. Construction of bicycle and pedestrian lanes, paths, and facilities
4. Activities included in the state’s highway safety plan under 23 USC §402
5. Transfer of federal lands pursuant to 23 USC §317 when the subsequent action is not an
FHWA action
6. Installation of noise barriers or alterations to existing publicly owned buildings to provide for
noise reduction
7. Landscaping
8. Installation of fencing, signs, pavement markings, small passenger shelters, traffic signals, and
railroad warning devices where no substantial land acquisition or traffic disruption will occur
9. Emergency repairs under 23 USC §125
10. Acquisition of scenic easements
11. Determination of payback under 23 CFR §480 for property previously acquired with federal-
aid participation
12. Improvements to existing rest areas and truck-weigh stations
13. Ride-sharing activities
14. Bus and railcar rehabilitation
15. Alterations to facilities or vehicles in order to make them accessible for elderly and handicapped
persons
16. Program administration, technical assistance activities, and operating assistance to transit
authorities to continue existing service or increase service to meet routine changes in demand.
17. Purchase of vehicles by the applicant where the use of these vehicles can be accommodated by
existing facilities or by new facilities which themselves are within a categorical exclusion
18. Track and railbed maintenance and improvements when carried out within the existing right-
of-way
19. Purchase and installation of operating or maintenance equipment to be located within the tran-
sit facility and with no significant impacts off the site
20. Promulgation of rules, regulations, and directives
Source: Adapted from 23 CFR 771.117(c).

If a project is subject to NEPA, a determination must then be made regarding the level
of analysis and process to be completed to comply with NEPA. The type of environmental
documentation that is required must be made in consultation with FHWA, which, in turn,
coordinates the review of a proposed action with other involved federal agencies. Based on
coordination with FHWA, a project could require one of the three levels of environmental
documentation:

• Documentation supporting the project status as a categorical exclusion (CE).
• Projects for which an environmental assessment is required to make a final determination
of whether an Environmental Impact Statement is required.
• Projects for which an environmental impact statement is required.