Is the action categorically excludable?
Grazing authorization does not fall within any categories of actions that would be categorically excludable from NEPA requirements within Forest Service regulations (FSH1909.15 navigate to chptr. 30 ). This is true with one exception. In 2004 Congress passed a rider in an appropriations bill that allowed the categorical exclusion of certain grazing allotments from NEPA analysis. The full text of P.L. 108-447 of Dec. 8, 2004 118 Stat. 3103 reads: SEC. 339. “For fiscal years 2005 through 2007, a decision made by the Secretary of Agriculture to authorize grazing on an allotment shall be categorically excluded from documentation in an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) if: (1) the decision continues current grazing management of the allotment; (2) monitoring indicates that current grazing management is meeting, or satisfactorily moving toward, objectives in the land and resource manageme
