Appendix B to Part 775—Categorical Exclusions

Appendix B to Part 775—Categorical Exclusions

See § 775.4(e)(3) for categorical exclusions with an asterisk (*)

(a) Minor reassignment of motor vehicles and purchase or deployment of motor vehicles to new locations that do not have significant adverse impacts to traffic safety, congestion or air quality.

(b) Procurement, installation, operation, removal or disposal of communication systems, computers, data processing equipment, and electrical equipment.*

(c) Postal facility function changes, unless the proposed action is listed as requiring an environmental assessment (EA) in the Postal Service's procedures implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

(d) Closure or consolidation of post offices under 39 U.S.C. 404(d).

(e) Actions which have an insignificant effect upon the environment as established in a previously written EA and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Such repetitive actions shall be considered “reference actions” and a record of all decisions concerning these “reference actions” shall be maintained by the Chief Environmental Officer or designee. The proposed action must be essentially the same in context and the same or less in intensity or create fewer impacts than the “reference action” previously studied under an EA or EIS in order to qualify for this exclusion.

(f) Procurement and/or fuel conversion of vehicles, whether owned or leased, where the vehicles being procured or converted have both: (i) comparable or improved relative fuel efficiency and (ii) comparable or lower relative air emissions, as compared with the vehicles they are replacing in use or service, whether due to vehicle replacement, route growth or change in business needs.

(g) Processing network actions necessary to improve performance and achieve operational efficiencies, including service standard changes and route optimization, that do not significantly adversely impact traffic safety, congestion or air quality.

(a) Any cleanup, remediation or removal action conducted under the provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), any asbestos abatement actions regulated under the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), or the Clean Air Act or any PCB transformer replacement or any lead based paint abatement actions regulated under the provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), OSHA or RCRA.*

(b) Testing associated with environmental cleanups or site investigations.*

(a) Siting, construction or operation of temporary support buildings or support structures.

(b) Routine maintenance and minor activities, such as fencing, that occur in floodplains or state and local wetlands or pursuant to the nationwide, regional or general permitting process of the US Army Corps of Engineers.*

(c) Routine actions normally conducted to protect and maintain properties and which do not alter the configuration of the building.*

(d) Changes in configuration of buildings required to promote handicapped accessibility pursuant to the Architectural Barriers Act.*

(e) Repair to, or replacement in kind or equivalent of building equipment or components (e.g., electrical distribution, HVAC systems, doors, windows, roofs, etc.).*

(f) Internal modifications or improvements to structure, or buildings to accommodate mail processing, computer, communication or other similar types of equipment or other actions which do not involve modification to the external walls of the facility.*

(g) Joint development and/or joint use projects that only involve internal modifications to an existing facility.

(h) Noise abatement measures, such as construction of noise barriers and installation of noise control materials.

(i) Actions which require concurrence or approval of another Federal agency where the action is a categorical exclusion under the NEPA regulations of that Federal agency.

(a) Obtaining, granting, disposing, or changing of easements, licenses and permits, rights-of-way and similar interests.

(b) Extension, renewal, renegotiation, or termination of existing lease agreements.*

(c) Purchase of Postal Service occupied leased property where the planned postal uses do not differ significantly from the past uses of the site.

(d) Acquisition or disposal of existing facilities and real property where the planned uses do not differ significantly from past uses of the site.

(e) Disposal through sale or outlease of unimproved real property.

(f) Disposal through sale, outlease, transfer or exchange of real property to other Federal or State agencies.

(g) Disposal or acquisition, whether through sale, lease, outlease, transfer or exchange, of properties where the size, area, topography, and zoning are similar to existing surrounding properties and/or where current, planned or reasonably anticipated uses are or would be similar to current surrounding uses (e.g., commercial store in a commercial strip, warehouse in an urban complex, office building in downtown area, or parking lot in an urban area).

(h) Acquisition of real property not connected to specific facility plans or when necessary to protect the interests of the Postal Service in advance of final project approval. This categorical exclusion only applies to the acquisition. Any subsequent use of the site for a facility project must be considered under this part.

(i) Acquisition and disposal through sale, lease, transfer, reservation or exchange of real property for nature and habitat preservation, conservation, a park or wildlife management.

(j) New construction of Postal Service owned or leased, or joint development and joint use projects, of any facility unless the proposed action is listed as requiring an EA in the Postal Service's NEPA procedures.

(k) Expansion or improvement of an existing facility where the expansion is within the boundaries of the site or occurs in a previously developed area unless the proposed action is listed as requiring an EA in the Postal Service's NEPA procedures.

(l) Construction and disturbance pursuant to a nationwide, regional or general permit issued by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

(m) Any activity in floodplains being regulated pursuant to part 776 of this chapter and is not listed as requiring an EA in the Postal Service's NEPA procedures.