[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR8.6]

[Page 155-156]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
               CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
 
PART 8_ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF NONGOVERNMENTAL ACTIVITIES 
IN ANTARCTICA--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 8.6  Preliminary environmental review.

    (a) Unless an operator has determined to prepare an IEE or CEE, the 
operator shall conduct a preliminary environmental review that assesses 
the potential direct and reasonably foreseeable indirect impacts on the 
Antarctic environment of the proposed expedition. A Preliminary 
Environmental Review Memorandum (PERM) shall contain sufficient detail 
to assess whether the proposed activity may have less than a minor or 
transitory impact, and shall be submitted to the EPA for review no less 
than 180 days before the proposed departure of the expedition. The EPA, 
in consultation with other interested federal agencies, will review the 
PERM to determine if it is sufficient to demonstrate that the activity 
will have less than a minor or transitory impact or whether additional 
environmental documentation, i.e., an IEE or CEE, is required to meet 
the obligations of Article 8 and Annex I of the Protocol. The EPA will 
provide its comments to the operator within fifteen (15) days of receipt 
of the PERM, and the operator shall have seventy-five (75) days to 
prepare a revised PERM or an IEE, if necessary. Following the final 
response from the operator, EPA may make a finding that the 
environmental documentation submitted does not meet the requirements of 
Article 8 and Annex I of the Protocol and the provisions of this part. 
This finding will be made with the concurrence of the National Science 
Foundation. If EPA does not provide such notice within thirty (30) days, 
the operator will be deemed to have met the requirements of this part 
provided that any required procedures, which may include appropriate 
monitoring, are put in place to assess and verify the impact of the 
activity.

[[Page 156]]

    (b) If EPA recommends an IEE and one is prepared and submitted 
within the seventy-five (75) day response period, it will be reviewed 
under the time frames set out for an IEE in Sec. 8.7. If EPA recommends 
a CEE and one is prepared, it will be reviewed under the time frames set 
out for a CEE in Sec. 8.8.