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Title 23, HighwaysRelease 119-110

§157 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 Reporting Program

Title 23 › CHAPTER 1 — FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS › § 157

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must keep track of NEPA reviews and send a yearly report to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure about the previous fiscal year. The report must count how many actions got categorical exclusions or documented categorical exclusions, how many had environmental assessments or environmental impact statements, how long each EA and EIS took, how many EAs and EISs are still being drafted, and for those pending items the percent that have funding identified and the percent that have all other required federal, state, and local steps finished. An EIS review starts when a Notice of Intent is published in the Federal Register and ends when the Secretary signs a record of decision (including any revision). An EA review starts when the Secretary decides to prepare an EA and ends when the Secretary issues a finding of no significant impact or decides an EIS is needed. Definitions: categorical exclusion and documented categorical exclusion — types of faster reviews; environmental assessment — a shorter NEPA study; environmental impact statement — a detailed NEPA study; Federal agency — includes a State that took responsibility under section 327; NEPA process — the whole analysis, reviews, and public and agency involvement; proposed action — a project the Secretary plans to do; reporting period — the fiscal year before the report; Secretary — includes the governor or state agency head for States that took responsibility.

Full Legal Text

Title 23, §157

Highways, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Definitions.—
In this section: (1) Categorical exclusion.—
(2)Documented categorical exclusion.—
The term “documented categorical exclusion” has the meaning given the term in section 771.117(d) of title 23, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation).
(3)Environmental assessment.—
The term “environmental assessment” has the meaning given the term in section 1508.1 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation).
(4)Environmental impact statement.—
The term “environmental impact statement” means a detailed statement required under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).
(5)Federal agency.—
The term “Federal agency” includes a State that has assumed responsibility under section 327.
(6)NEPA process.—
The term “NEPA process” means the entirety of the development and documentation of the analysis required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), including the assessment and analysis of any impacts, alternatives, and mitigation of a proposed action, and any interagency participation and public involvement required to be carried out before the Secretary undertakes a proposed action.
(7)Proposed action.—
The term “proposed action” means an action (within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)) under this title that the Secretary proposes to carry out.
(8)Reporting period.—
The term “reporting period” means the fiscal year prior to the fiscal year in which a report is issued under subsection (b).
(9)Secretary.—
The term “Secretary” includes the governor or head of an applicable State agency of a State that has assumed responsibility under section 327.
(b)Report on NEPA Data.—
(1)In general.—
The Secretary shall carry out a process to track, and annually submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report containing, the information described in paragraph (3).
(2)Time to complete.—
For purposes of paragraph (3), the NEPA process—
(A)for an environmental impact statement—
(i)begins on the date on which the Notice of Intent is published in the Federal Register; and
(ii)ends on the date on which the Secretary issues a record of decision, including, if necessary, a revised record of decision; and
(B)for an environmental assessment—
(i)begins on the date on which the Secretary makes a determination to prepare an environmental assessment; and
(ii)ends on the date on which the Secretary issues a finding of no significant impact or determines that preparation of an environmental impact statement is necessary.
(3)Information described.—
The information referred to in paragraph (1) is, with respect to the Department of Transportation—
(A)the number of proposed actions for which a categorical exclusion was issued during the reporting period;
(B)the number of proposed actions for which a documented categorical exclusion was issued by the Department of Transportation during the reporting period;
(C)the number of proposed actions pending on the date on which the report is submitted for which the issuance of a documented categorical exclusion by the Department of Transportation is pending;
(D)the number of proposed actions for which an environmental assessment was issued by the Department of Transportation during the reporting period;
(E)the length of time the Department of Transportation took to complete each environmental assessment described in subparagraph (D);
(F)the number of proposed actions pending on the date on which the report is submitted for which an environmental assessment is being drafted by the Department of Transportation;
(G)the number of proposed actions for which an environmental impact statement was completed by the Department of Transportation during the reporting period;
(H)the length of time that the Department of Transportation took to complete each environmental impact statement described in subparagraph (G);
(I)the number of proposed actions pending on the date on which the report is submitted for which an environmental impact statement is being drafted; and
(J)for the proposed actions reported under subparagraphs (F) and (I), the percentage of those proposed actions for which—
(i)funding has been identified; and
(ii)all other Federal, State, and local activities that are required to allow the proposed action to proceed are completed.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, referred to in subsec. (a)(6), (7), is Pub. L. 91–190, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 852, which is classified generally to chapter 55 (§ 4321 et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 4321 of Title 42 and Tables.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 157, added Pub. L. 105–178, title I, § 1403(a),
June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 237; amended Pub. L. 108–88, § 6(a)(1), Sept. 30, 2003, 117 Stat. 1119; Pub. L. 108–202, § 6(a), Feb. 29, 2004, 118 Stat. 483; Pub. L. 108–224, § 5(a), Apr. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 632; Pub. L. 108–263, § 5(a),
June 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 703; Pub. L. 108–280, § 5(a),
July 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 881; Pub. L. 108–310, § 6(a)(1), Sept. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 1152; Pub. L. 109–14, § 5(a)(1),
May 31, 2005, 119 Stat. 329; Pub. L. 109–20, § 5(a)(1),
July 1, 2005, 119 Stat. 351; Pub. L. 109–35, § 5(a)(1),
July 20, 2005, 119 Stat. 384; Pub. L. 109–37, § 5(a)(1),
July 22, 2005, 119 Stat. 399; Pub. L. 109–40, § 5(a)(1),
July 28, 2005, 119 Stat. 415; Pub. L. 109–59, title I, § 1406, Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1231, related to safety incentive grants for use of seat belts, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 112–141, § 3(a), div. A, title I, § 1519(b)(1)(A),
July 6, 2012, 126 Stat. 413, 575, effective Oct. 1, 2012. Another prior section 157, added Pub. L. 97–424, title I, § 150(a), Jan. 6, 1983, 96 Stat. 2131; amended Pub. L. 99–272, title IV, § 4102(f), Apr. 7, 1986, 100 Stat. 113; Pub. L. 100–17, title I, §§ 105(h), 124, Apr. 2, 1987, 101 Stat. 144, 164; Pub. L. 102–240, title I, §§ 1002(h), 1013(a), (b), Dec. 18, 1991, 105 Stat. 1918, 1940; Pub. L. 103–272, § 5(f)(3),
July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1374, related to minimum allocations to States, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 105–178, title I, § 1403(a),
June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 237.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 2021, see section 10003 of Pub. L. 117–58, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2021 Amendment note under section 101 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

23 U.S.C. § 157

Title 23, Highways

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110