On February 28, 2013, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) to provide interested parties with the opportunity to comment on two new Categorical Exclusions (CEs) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The new CEs are proposed as required by the October 1, 2012 transportation bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) (Pub. L. No. 112-141) (to be codified at 42 U.S.C. § 4332(a)). Projects that qualify for a CE are excluded from NEPA's requirement to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact statement (EIS). As required by MAP-21, the NPR proposes CEs for highway and transit projects that:

1.Occur within an existing operational right-of-way; or

2.Receive less than 5 million dollars of federal funds, or, where the total project cost is less than 30 million dollars, receive federal funds for less than 15 percent of the total project cost.

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