Adoption of Categorical Exclusions Under Section 109 of the National Environmental Policy Act

The Department of the Interior (Department) is adopting the United States Forest Service's (USFS) categorical exclusion for short- term mineral, energy, or geothermal investigations and the Department of the Navy's (DON) categorical exclusion for pre-lease upland exploration activities for oil, gas, or geothermal reserves, (e.g., geophysical surveys) pursuant to section 109 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to use for proposed Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approval of geothermal exploration operations. This notice describes the limited categories of proposed actions for which the BLM intends to use the USFS and DON categorical exclusions and details the consultation between the respective agencies.