NEPA / HUD Compliance
Guiding You Through Government Requirements
If you have ever considered funding for your development project using federal or state programs, you know there are many additional environmental factors which must be considered.
Most of these factors can be attributed to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. NEPA was the first major environmental law directing Federal agencies to “look before you leap” and consider environmental consequences before funding or permitting a development.
Today, each federal agency has developed their own guidelines on how to ensure compliance with NEPA through an environmental review process. These guidelines are continually revised and updated to better address the intent of the regulations.
Phase Engineering stays up-to-date on the latest regulatory changes and provides technical reporting to satisfy a wide range of government requirements and compliance measures, including but not limited to:
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 24 CFR Part 58 Reviews: These reviews apply to local government recipients of relevant CPD funds including CDBG assistance, HOME, NSP grants, Disaster Recovery assistance, and Public Housing programming.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 24 CFR Part 50 Reviews: These reviews are applicable when responsibility is not delegated to the local government, as well as when the local government is not a direct recipient of the funds or when HUD determines the local government cannot act responsibly. Part 50 Reviews are completed using the HUD Environmental Review Online System (HEROS).
- USDA Rural Development (RD) 1970 Environmental Policies and Procedures: USDA programs administrated by the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS), Rural Housing Service (RHS), and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) must follow the agency’s environmental regulations included in 40 CFR Part 1970.
- National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF)This program was established under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008 to allow HUD to allocate funds to eligible States to increase and preserve the supply of decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing particularly to renter households that are homeless or with very low to extremely low income. NEPA is not applicable under this program since HUD has no discretion over the State’s selection or rejection of individual projects. However, projects involving new construction or rehabilitation must follow specific Environmental Provisions as defined in 24 CFR Part 301(f)(1) and (2).
