§ 1216.302 Responsibilities.

(a) The NASA Senior Agency Official (SAO), is the Associate Administrator, Mission Support Directorate. The SAO is responsible for overall Agency NEPA compliance, including integration of NEPA into the Agency's planning and decision making and resolving implementation issues. (1) The NASA Senior Environmental Official (SEO) is the Assistant Administrator, Office of Strategic Infrastructure. The SEO, in consultation with the SAO, is responsible for development and implementation of NASA NEPA policy requirements and guidance which fully integrate NEPA compliance into Agency planning and decision-making processes. To the extent the CEQ's implementing regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508 reserve a specific authority to the SAO, the SAO is the responsible NASA official for resolving matters related to that specific authority. (2) The NASA Headquarters/Environmental Management Division (HQ/EMD), in consultation with the SEO, is responsible for implementing NEPA functions and guiding NASA's integration of NEPA into the Agency's planning and decision making. HQ/EMD provides oversight of all NASA entities in implementing their assigned responsibilities under NEPA. HQ/EMD, in coordination with the Center Environmental Management Office, is responsible for determining the appropriate level of NEPA documentation and maintaining a publicly accessible internet portal which includes information on the status of environmental impact statements (EISs) and other elements of NASA's NEPA program (https://www.nasa.gov/emd/nepa). (3) Each NASA Center has an environmental management office that directs and implements the NEPA process, such as evaluating proposed actions; developing, reviewing, and approving required documentation; and advising Center-level program and project managers. (b) The “Responsible Official” is the NASA official who will ensure that planning and decision-making for each proposed Agency action complies with the regulations in this subpart and with Agency NEPA policy and guidance provided by the SAO, SEO, HQ/EMD, and the Center's environmental management office as applicable. (c) NASA must comply with this subpart when considering issuance of a permit, lease, easement, or grant to a non-Federal party and may seek such non-Federal party's assistance in obtaining necessary information and completing the NEPA process.