49 U.S.C. § 304: Application of categorical exclusions for multimodal projects

The term “cooperating authority” means a Department of Transportation operating administration or secretarial office that has expertise but is not the lead authority with respect to a proposed multimodal project. The term “lead authority” means a Department of Transportation operating administration or secretarial office that has the lead responsibility for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect to a proposed multimodal project. The term “multimodal project” has the meaning given the term in section 139(a) of title 23 . The authorities granted in this section may be exercised for a multimodal project, class of projects, or program of projects that are carried out under this title or title 23. on the applicability of a categorical exclusion to a proposed multimodal project; and that the project satisfies the conditions for a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and this section; the lead authority follows the implementing regulations of the cooperating authority or procedures under that Act; and the proposed multimodal project does not individually or cumulatively have a significant impact on the environment; and extraordinary circumstances do not exist that merit additional analysis and documentation in an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment required under that Act. A cooperating authority shall provide expertise to the lead authority on aspects of the multimodal project in which the cooperating authority has expertise.