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Office of Native American Programs

Environmental Resources

When, Where and Why an Environmental Review is Needed.

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An Environmental Review

The process of reviewing a project and its potential environmental impacts to determine whether it meets federal, state, and local environmental standards. The environmental review process is required for all HUD-assisted projects to ensure that the proposed project does not negatively impact the surrounding environment, and that the property site itself will not have an adverse environmental or health effect on residents. HUD’s Office of Environment and Energy (OEE) manages the overall environmental review process for HUD. You will find an overview of HUD environmental requirements, as well as regulations, formats, guidance and training materials on the Environmental Review page. If you have questions about environmental review, please contact the assigned Grants Management Specialist or Grants Evaluation Specialist in your Area Office.

Environmental Updates

Contacts

Environmental Training

 

  • Web-Based Instructional System for Environmental Reviews (WISER)
    WISER     teaches grantees how to understand and address all aspects of the environmental review process required for all HUD-assisted projects. This set of self-paced online learning modules can be completed in any order. Each module includes its own learning assessment and opportunity for obtaining a certificate of completion.

  • Webinars
    The Environmental Reviews Training webinars, held by HUD's Office of Environment and Energy, provide comprehensive information for grantees and staff on the various components of the environmental review process. All major topics are discussed by subject matter experts. HUD records all Environmental Review Training webinars; these webinar presentations and accompanying materials are available here.

ONAP Environmental Webinar Series

  • Use of Environmental Review Forms
    This webinar provided a basic overview of the three HUD environmental review forms: exempt/categorical exclusions not subject to 58.5 (CENST), categorical exclusions subject to 58.5 (CEST), and environmental assessments (EA). This webinar focused on applying these forms to activities in a typical Indian Housing Plan or other projects commonly seen in tribal communities and clarified who signs these environmental reviews.
  • Aggregation
    Aggregating geographically and/or functionally related activities improves the efficiency of environmental reviews and is required by HUD regulations. This webinar discussed how to include the full scope of a project in a project description for an environmental review and presented common examples of project aggregation for projects in tribal communities.
  • Emergency Repairs
    HUD’s regulations at 24 CFR 58.34(a)(10) include an exemption for emergency repairs. This webinar will discuss how and when 24 CFR 58.34(a)(10) may be used to expedite the environmental review process and provide different examples.
  • Re-evaluation
    Project scopes or environmental conditions can change after an environmental review has already been completed. This webinar will discuss how and when to update an existing environmental review under reevaluation at 24 CFR 58.47 and provide different examples.
  • Tiering
    Tiered reviews can be used to streamline environmental reviews for a program when the exact locations to receive HUD assistance are not known upfront. This webinar focuses on how to use tiered categorical exclusion subject to (CEST) environmental reviews for programs such as homeowner-occupied rehabilitation assistance and lease-acquisition.
  • Noise
    This webinar will present HUD’s noise standard in the context of environmental reviews for Tribal projects, outline the steps for conducting a noise assessment, and demonstrate the use of existing HUD online tools on noise abatement and control.
  • Endangered Species Act for Alaska Projects
    This webinar presented the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Programmatic and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries/National Marine Service guidance on endangered species for HUD projects in Alaska.
  • Streamlining Environmental Reviews Through Section 106 Programmatic Agreements
    For Tribal projects involving rehabilitation of single family homes, the consultation process for historic preservation is commonly the lengthiest aspect of the environmental review. This webinar discussed the use of programmatic agreements to streamlines environmental reviews with regard to Section 106.

Sample Environmental Reviews

Tiered reviews can be used to streamline environmental reviews for a program when the exact locations to receive HUD assistance are not known upfront.

Example Tiered Review: CEST Cascade County Elder Homeowner Rehab

​Limited Scope Review for Project Based Rental Assistance without Repair, Rehabilitation, or Construction

HEROS

HEROS is an online system for developing, documenting, and managing environmental reviews. It covers all levels of environmental reviews for both Part 50 and Part 58 projects and includes on-screen guidance for completing HUD environmental reviews.

Frequently Asked Questions

See this FAQ for questions and answers on using an existing review that is more than 5 years, re-evaluation, coastal zone management, and prime farmlands.

 

ONAP Environmental Guidance

  • ONAP Guidance 2017-03: Certifying Officers for Environmental Reviews
  • PIH Notice 2015-01: Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) Program: Guidance and Procedures for Environmental Reviews under Part 50
  • CPD Notice 2011-10: Waiving Statutory Environmental Review Requirements for the Indian Housing Block Grant Program for Tribes that have Assumed Environmental Review Responsibilities under 24 CFR Part 58

Tribal Interagency Environmental Streamlining Toolkit

  • Tribal/Interagency Environmental Streamlining Toolkit (TIES)- TIES was developed to assist Tribes with streamlining environmental reviews for housing and housing infrastructure projects when multiple federal agencies are involved with funding or permitting. It presents the environmental review requirements for federal agencies that are commonly involved with Tribal housing projects. It also highlights opportunities for coordination and streamlining.

THRIITF Task Force

  • Tribal Housing and Related Infrastructure Interagency Task Force- The Tribal Housing and Related Infrastructure Interagency Task Force (THRIITF) is comprised of Federal agencies and Tribal representatives to develop a coordinated and streamlined environmental review for Tribal housing and related infrastructure projects. THRIITF background, documents and reports are available here.

Tribal Consultation

  • HUD’s Tribal consultation on environmental policies can be found on Tribal Consultation under the topic Office of Environment and Energy

Additional Resources

 

 

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