Additional authorities

In carrying out the responsibilities of the Department of Commerce under this chapter, the Secretary may— Any funds received from a payment made by a person or entity pursuant to subsection (a)(3) shall be credited to and merged with the account from which support to the person or entity was made 11 So in original. Probably should be followed by a period. In this subsection, the term “lead agency” has the meaning given the term in section 111 of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4336e). With respect to a covered activity that is a major Federal action under NEPA, and with respect to which the Department of Commerce is authorized or required by law to issue an authorization or take action for or relating to that covered activity, the Department of Commerce shall have the first right to serve as the lead agency with respect to that covered activity under NEPA. Each of the following categorical exclusions is established for the National Institute of Standards and Technology with respect to a covered activity and, beginning on October 2, 2024, is available for use by the Secretary with respect to a covered activity: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each of the following shall be treated as a category of action categorically excluded from the requirements relating to environmental assessments and environmental impact statements under section 1501.4 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation: The provision by the Secretary of any Federal financial assistance for a project described in section 4652 of this title, if the facility that is the subject of the project is on or adjacent to a site— The provision by the Secretary of Defense of any Federal financial assistance relating to— In this subsection, the term “prior studies and decisions” means baseline data, planning documents, studies, analyses, decisions, and documentation that a Federal agency has completed for a project (or that have been completed under the laws and procedures of a State or Indian Tribe), including for determining the reasonable range of alternatives for that project. In completing an environmental review under NEPA for a covered activity, the Secretary may consider and, as appropriate, rely on or adopt prior studies and decisions, if the Secretary determines that— In this section: The term “covered activity” means any activity relating to the construction, expansion, or modernization of a facility, the investment in which is eligible for Federal financial assistance under section 4652 or 4656 of this title. The term “NEPA” means the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).