D1: NEPA Trigger Classification

This is an explanation of the trigger definitions we want to use for this deliverable.

Classification Schema

Each of these 7 classes triggers NEPA review. The main trigger classes are:

  • Federal Funding
  • Federal Land
  • Federal Permit
  • Federal Direct Action
  • Power Marketing Administration (PMA) + Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (code: pma)
  • Federal Program
  • Federal Property Transaction

1. Federal funding

Coding rule: Assign federal funding classification when the project receives direct or indirect federal financial support or when federal financial support is the reason the agency is involved in project approval or review.

Grants and direct funding:

  • “federal grant” / “DOE grant” / “DOT grant” / “HUD grant” / “USDA grant” / “grant funding”
  • “federal funding” / “federal financial assistance”
  • “DOE grant” / “DOE funding” / “DOT grant” / “DOT funding” / “HUD grant” / “HUD funding” / “USDA grant” / “USDA funding” (Tier 1b agency+type pattern)
  • “provide federal funding”
  • “DOE Funding” (standalone; Tier 4 context scan)
  • “DOE/Department of Energy” + “would provide” + “funds/funding/grant/awards/cost-share” (within same passage)
  • “total award value”
  • “Total Project Value”

Loans and loan guarantees:

  • “loan guarantee”
  • “Title XVII”

Cooperative agreements:

  • “through a cooperative agreement … partially fund” (within same passage)
  • “providing financial assistance to … under/through a cooperative agreement” (within same passage)
  • “awarding a grant … partially fund” (within same passage)

Cost sharing:

  • “cost share”
  • “DOE Funding = $[amount] … Cost Share = $[amount]” (Tier 1b; requires actual dollar figures)
  • “cost-shared arrangement”
  • “DOE’s (proposed) action is to provide … cost-shared arrangement” (within same passage; Tier 1b only)
  • “Federal Cost Share” + “Total Project Value” within same passage (Tier 1b)
  • “Federal Cost Share” standalone (Tier 4 context scan — lower specificity)

Legislative funding authorities:

  • “Inflation Reduction Act”
  • “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” / “Bipartisan Infrastructure Act”
  • “Title XVII”

Formula-based programs:

  • “formula awards” / “formula-based awards” / “formula grants” / “formula-based grants”
  • “EECBG funding” / “DOE EECBG funding”
  • “State Energy Program” / “SEP” / “WAP” + “formula awards/grants” within same passage
  • “Administrative and Legal Requirements Document” / “ALRD” + “formula awards/grants” within same passage (medium confidence)

Document title (Tier 2 scan):

  • “loan guarantee” appearing in the document title

Agency metadata (Tier 1a — detected without text cues):

  • Agency is DOT / Department of Transportation → auto-assigned federal_funding
  • Agency is HUD / Department of Housing and Urban Development → auto-assigned federal_funding
  • Agency is FTA / Federal Transit Administration → auto-assigned federal_funding
  • Agency is FHWA / Federal Highway Administration → auto-assigned federal_funding
  • Note: DOE is ambiguous — it can indicate either federal_funding or federal_direct_action depending on verb context; DOE projects are routed to Tier 4 for adjudication

2. Federal land

Coding rule: Assign federal land classification when the project is located on, crosses, uses, or requires access to federally managed land or federally controlled property interests or when the project arises from federal land ownership, land management authority, easement authority, or right-of-way control.

ROW applications and grants on BLM / public land:

  • “application for a right-of-way grant”
  • “30-year right-of-way grant” + “BLM-administered lands” (within same passage)
  • “right-of-way (ROW)” + “public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management” (within same passage)
  • “request for a right-of-way” + “public land managed by BLM” (within same passage)
  • “public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management”
  • “grant a perpetual ROW on BLM managed public land”
  • “perpetual right-of-way grant”
  • “rights-of-way over, upon, under, or through public lands”

ROW renewals and amendments:

  • “right-of-way renewal applications”
  • “right-of-way renewal and amendment”
  • “Request to Amend Existing Authorization”
  • “amend its ROW grant”

Special use permits:

  • “special use permit”
  • “current authorization with a defined ROW” + “Operation and Maintenance Plan” (either order, within same passage)

Easements:

  • “temporary and permanent easements”
  • “easement has expired”
  • “easement for the right-of-way” (Tier 1b; exact phrase)
  • “easement” + “right-of-way” within same passage (~120 chars) (Tier 4; broader proximity match)

Bureau of Indian Affairs:

  • “Bureau of Indian Affairs is requesting a new right-of-way (ROW)”

Bureau of Reclamation:

  • “lands administered by the Bureau of Reclamation” + “permissions must be sought” (within same passage)
  • “2920 Land Use Authorization”

FLPMA statutory authority:

  • “Title V of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act” + “respond to requests for rights-of-way across public lands” (within same passage)

Document title (Tier 2 scan):

  • “right-of-way” (any hyphen/spacing variant) appearing in the document title

Land-management programmatic reviews (moved from federal_program):

  • “revision of the … land and resource management plan” (within same passage) → lrm_plan_revision
  • “integrated vegetation management program” + “programmatic environmental assessment” → ivm_program_pea
  • “system-wide operations and maintenance” + “programmatic environmental assessment” → systemwide_om_pea
  • “uranium leasing program” + “programmatic environmental assessment/impact statement” → uranium_leasing_pea
  • “outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing program” + “programmatic environmental impact statement” → ocs_leasing_peis
  • “solar energy development in six southwestern states” + “programmatic environmental impact statement” → solar_program_peis
  • “wind energy development on Bureau of Land Management-administered lands” + “programmatic environmental impact statement” → wind_program_peis
  • “updates to the western solar plan” + “solar PEIS” / “programmatic environmental impact statement” — OR — “2023 draft solar PEIS” → western_solar_peis
  • “designation of energy corridors on federal land” + “programmatic environmental impact statement” → energy_corridors_peis
  • “section 368 energy corridor revisions” + “resource management plan amendment” / “environmental impact statement” → section368_corridor
  • “vegetation management” + “National Forest” within same passage (~50 chars) → usfs_veg_mgmt (moved from federal_direct_action)

These cues all relate to programmatic or resource-management reviews on or for federally managed lands. They are classified as federal_land, not federal_program, because the federal land management authority is the direct trigger.

Agency metadata (Tier 1a — detected without text cues):

  • Agency is BLM, Bureau of Land Management, USFS, Forest Service, NPS, National Park Service, FWS / USFWS, Fish and Wildlife Service, BOR / USBR, Bureau of Reclamation
  • Agency is BLM / Bureau of Land Management AND sponsor contains Forest Service / USFS AND title or description contains one of: “right-of-way” / “ROW” / “withdrawal” / “Public Land Order” / “FLPMA” → auto-assigned federal_land (T1a_BLM_USFS_land_control)

3. Federal permit

Coding rule: Assign federal permit classification when the project needs a federal permit, license, certification, or approval--even if it is otherwise private or state-led--and the action is primarily a regulatory authorization, license, permit, or approval.

Army Corps / Section 404 permits:

  • “Department of the Army Environmental Assessment and Statement of Finding/Findings” + “(Standard) Individual Permit Application” within same passage (Tier 1b only)
  • “Standard Individual Permit Application” / “Individual Permit Application”
  • “Section 404 permit application”
  • “applied for an individual permit under Section 404”
  • “Department of Army permit” / “Department of the Army (DA) permit” + “Section 404” within same passage (180 chars)
  • “Clean Water Act” only when paired in the same passage with explicit permit language such as “Section 404” + “permit” / “permit application,” “permit application,” “issue a permit” / “issue a permit with conditions,” “deny a permit,” or “Section 10”
  • Do not use bare “Clean Water Act” by itself as a permit trigger
  • “Section 10” + “Rivers and Harbors” within same passage (80 chars)
  • “Nationwide Permit (NWP) Verification” (medium confidence)
  • “Nationwide, Regional General, or Standard Individual Permit may be required” (medium confidence)

NPDES:

  • “issuance of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit” (Tier 1b; without NPDES acronym)
  • “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit” (Tier 1b + Tier 4; with NPDES acronym)
  • “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Construction Storm Water General Permit is required” (full phrase, Tier 1b)
  • “NPDES permit must be obtained”
  • “NPDES” + “permitting decision” within same passage (80 chars)
  • “Construction Storm Water General Permit is required”

Incidental take / ESA:

  • “incidental take permit application”
  • “Incidental Take Permit (ITP) under Section 10(a)(1)(B)”
  • “Renewed/Amended ITP is needed”
  • “Habitat Conservation Plan and Incidental Take Permit”

FERC:

  • “hydropower license”
  • “relicense” / “relicensing” (medium confidence)
  • “application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity”

Presidential permits:

  • “Amendment to Presidential Permit”
  • “(Amendment to) Presidential Permit” (Tier 4 broader form; covers both standalone and amendment)
  • “Issuance of Presidential Permit PP-[number]”
  • “Presidential Permit Application Review” (Tier 1b only)

NRC nuclear licenses:

  • “Early Site Permit”
  • “Combined License”
  • “License Renewal” / “Subsequent License Renewal”
  • “issuance of renewed facility operating licenses”
  • “NRC/FERC” + “license amendment” within same passage (80 chars) — OR — “license amendment” + “NRC/FERC/10 CFR 50.90/FERC order” within same passage (Tier 4 only)

Document title (Tier 2 scan):

  • “(Standard) Individual Permit Application”
  • “Hydropower License”
  • “Incidental Take Permit”
  • “Presidential Permit”
  • “Early Site Permit”
  • “Combined License”
  • “(Subsequent) License Renewal”
  • “certificate of public convenience and necessity”

Nuclear generic EIS/EA (moved from federal_program):

  • “generic environmental impact statement” / “generic EIS” / “GEIS” + “nuclear” / “NRC” / “reactor” / “license renewal” (within same passage, ~200 chars) → generic_nuclear_eis
  • “generic environmental assessment” / “generic EA” / “GEA” + “nuclear” / “NRC” / “reactor” / “license renewal” (within same passage, ~200 chars) → generic_nuclear_ea
  • “NUREG-1437” (standalone; this is the NRC’s generic EIS for license renewal) → nureg1437_geis

These patterns indicate NRC regulatory proceedings (license renewal, site-specific license) rather than broader program planning — hence federal_permit, not federal_program.

Agency metadata (Tier 1a — detected without text cues):

  • Agency is FERC / Federal Energy Regulatory Commission → auto-assigned federal_permit
  • Agency is FAA / Federal Aviation Administration → auto-assigned federal_permit
  • Agency is FCC / Federal Communications Commission → auto-assigned federal_permit

4. Federal Direct Action

Coding rule: Assign federal direct action coding when the federal agency is not just approving someone else’s project but is the primary actor proposing, implementing, constructing, adopting, managing, or directly sponsoring the action.

Recognized federal actors — the following agency names are required to appear in any compound pattern below:

  • DOE / Department of Energy
  • NNSA / National Nuclear Security Administration
  • Reclamation / Bureau of Reclamation / USBR
  • CBP / U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • Forest Service / U.S. Forest Service / USFS
  • Bureau of Land Management / BLM
  • NPS / National Park Service
  • PNNL / Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Note: BPA, WAPA, SEPA, SWPA, and TVA are no longer recognized actors for federal_direct_action. They have been moved to the pma class (see below). Projects led by those agencies are classified as pma primary, with federal_land or federal_permit added as secondary where applicable.

Compound patterns (actor + intent verb + action verb — all must appear in same passage):

Intent verbs recognized: “proposes to” / “propose to” / “is proposing to” / “will” / “would” / “would be to” / “is to”

Action verbs recognized: construct, install, build, operate, implement, manage, restore, undertake, develop, upgrade, expand, demolish, replace, retrofit, rebuild, reconductor, renovate, refurbish, relocate, repair, reconfigure, dismantle, modernize, improve

The compound patterns are:

  • [ACTOR] + (within 80 chars) + [INTENT VERB] + [ACTION VERB]
  • [ACTOR] + (within 80 chars) + [INTENT VERB] + “remove and replace”
  • [ACTOR] + (within 120 chars) + “construct, own, operate, and maintain”
  • [ACTOR] + (within 160 chars) + “constructed and operated” / “would be constructed and operated”
  • [ACTOR] + (within 160 chars) + “continue to occupy and maintain existing facilities” + (within 180 chars) + “refurbish existing facilities”
  • [ACTOR] + (within 160 chars) + “would functionally replace”
  • [ACTOR] + (within 520 chars) + “rebuild the existing”
  • [ACTOR] + (within 200 chars) + “upgrade/rebuild” + (within 160 chars) + “by removing” + (within 160 chars) + “and installing”

Specific literal pattern (no verb structure required):

  • “now that DOE has acquired ownership of the parcel, DOE proposes to operate and maintain the site”

Specific literal pattern (no verb structure required):

  • “now that DOE has acquired ownership of the parcel, DOE proposes to operate and maintain the site”

Standalone patterns (no actor name required):

  • “federal construction” / “federal facility” / “federal installation”
  • “military installation” / “military base” / “military facility” / “military construction”
  • “federal facility upgrade” / “federal facility expansion” / “federal facility construction” (Tier 1b; more specific form)

Note: “vegetation management” + “National Forest” has been moved to federal_land (see below).

Agency metadata (Tier 1a — detected without text cues):

  • AGENCY_DIRECT_ACTION_MAP — auto-assigned federal_direct_action without further review:
    • CBP / U.S. Customs and Border Protection / Customs and Border Protection
  • Note: DOE and USACE appear in FEDERAL_ACTION_ACTOR_PATTERN (used in compound text patterns above) but are classified as AGENCY_AMBIGUOUS in Tier 1a — they are NOT auto-assigned to federal_direct_action from metadata alone; verb context from document text is required to distinguish federal_direct_action from federal_funding (DOE) or federal_permit (USACE)
  • Note: BPA, WAPA, SEPA, SWPA, and TVA have been moved out of AGENCY_DIRECT_ACTION_MAP into AGENCY_PMA_MAP and are auto-assigned pma

5. Power Marketing Administration (PMA) + Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Coding rule: Assign the pma classification when Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), Southeastern Power Administration (SEPA), Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA), or Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the lead or sponsoring agency for the action. The code value is pma; in text and tables, use "PMA/TVA" or expand the acronym on first use.

Agency metadata (Tier 1a — primary detection method):

  • AGENCY_PMA_MAP — auto-assigned pma as primary trigger:
    • Bonneville Power Administration / BPA
    • Western Area Power Administration / WAPA
    • Southeastern Power Administration / SEPA
    • Southwestern Power Administration / SWPA
    • Tennessee Valley Authority / TVA
    • Power Marketing Administration / PMA (generic)

When a PMA/TVA row also contains ROW, easement, land-use, or permit cues, pma remains primary and federal_land / federal_permit are added as secondary triggers.

Text-based actor patterns (Tier 1b — when agency metadata is missing or ambiguous):

  • “[BPA / Bonneville Power Administration]” + “proposes to / will / would” → bpa_actor
  • “[WAPA / Western Area Power Administration]” + “proposes to / will / would” → wapa_actor
  • “[SEPA / Southeastern Power Administration]” + “proposes to / will / would” → sepa_actor
  • “[SWPA / Southwestern Power Administration]” + “proposes to / will / would” → swpa_actor
  • “[TVA / Tennessee Valley Authority]” + “proposes to / will / would” → tva_actor
  • “Power Marketing Administration” (standalone) → pma_generic (medium confidence)

Tier 4 cue patterns (context scoring):

  • \b(?:Bonneville\s+Power\s+Administration|BPA)\b
  • \b(?:Western\s+Area\s+Power\s+Administration|WAPA)\b
  • \b(?:Southeastern\s+Power\s+Administration|SEPA)\b
  • \b(?:Southwestern\s+Power\s+Administration|SWPA)\b
  • \b(?:Tennessee\s+Valley\s+Authority|TVA)\b
  • \bPower\s+Marketing\s+Administration\b|\bPMA\b

Hypothesis (Tier 4 NLI):

  • “This text shows that Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), Southeastern Power Administration (SEPA), Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA), or Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the lead or sponsoring agency proposing or implementing this project.”

6. Federal programs

Coding rule: Assign the federal program classification when the NEPA action is not primarily a site-specific project, but a broader plan, rule, policy, or program rather than a single facility or construction project.

Programmatic document identifiers (full phrases):

  • “programmatic environmental impact statement”
  • “programmatic environmental assessment”
  • “Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement” / “Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement” / “Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement”
  • “this programmatic EIS” / “this programmatic EA” / “this programmatic Environmental…”

Programmatic acronyms and abbreviations:

  • “PEIS” / “DPEIS” / “FPEIS” / “SPEIS”
  • “PEA” (programmatic environmental assessment)
  • “SWEIS” (site-wide environmental impact statement)
  • “SWEA” (site-wide environmental assessment)
  • “program-wide” / “programwide”

Generic and tiered review types:

  • “generic environmental impact statement” / “generic environmental assessment” / “generic EIS” / “generic EA”
  • “Tier 1 review” / “Tier 1 NEPA review” / “Tier 1 environmental impact statement” / “Tier 1 EIS” / “Tier 1 EA” / “Tier i review” / “Tier one review”
  • “Environmental Impact Statement Tier 1” / “EIS Tier 1” / “EA Tier 1” (reversed order)
  • “site-wide environmental impact statement” / “site-wide environmental assessment” / “sitewide environmental assessment”

Other program types:

  • “rulemaking”
  • “policy framework”
  • “integrated resource plan” + “programmatic environmental impact statement” / “supplemental environmental impact statement” / “draft EIS”
  • “long-term experimental and management plan” + “environmental impact statement”

Note: Land-management programmatic reviews (vegetation management PEAs on National Forest, uranium leasing PEIS, OCS oil and gas leasing PEIS, BLM wind/solar PEIS, Western Solar Plan/PEIS, Section 368 corridor PEIS, system-wide O&M PEAs, and resource management plan revisions) have been moved to federal_land. Do not classify these as federal_program. See the federal_land section for the full cue list.

Document title (Tier 2 scan):

  • “programmatic” / “program-wide” / “PEIS” / “PEA” appearing in the document title (with exclusion check applied)

Excluded patterns:

  • “programmatic agreement” → refers to a Section 106 consultation agreement, not a NEPA program review
  • “programmatic biological opinion” → a Fish and Wildlife consultation document, not a NEPA program review
  • “programmatic consultation” → inter-agency coordination, not NEPA
  • “programmatic collaboration” → not NEPA

7. Federal property transaction

Coding rule: Assign federal property transaction coding when the federal action involves transfer or disposition of federally controlled land or property interests.

Land exchange:

  • “land exchange”
  • “fee-for-fee land exchange”
  • “exchange property with”
  • “asset exchange” + “rights-of-way/easements/line easements” within same passage (medium confidence)
  • “easement exchange” (document title only)

Disposal:

  • “dispose of land rights” / “dispose of the underlying land rights”
  • “land disposal”
  • “disposal of federal land” / “disposal of federal property” (Tier 1b: requires “of federal” qualifier)
  • “disposal” standalone (Tier 4 context scan — lower specificity)

Sale:

  • “sale of land rights”
  • “sell in fee”

Conveyance:

  • “conveyance of federal land” / “conveyance of federal property” (Tier 1b: requires “of federal” qualifier)
  • “conveyance” standalone (Tier 4 context scan — lower specificity)

Acquisition of land or easements:

  • “acquire land rights”
  • “acquire several road easements”
  • “acquire access road rights”
  • “acquire and release access road rights”
  • “purchase lots and easements” / “purchase two lots and easements” / “purchase lots and line easements”
  • “land purchase and easement acquisition” (document title only)
  • “land rights acquisition” (document title only)

Transfer of ownership or title:

  • “transfer ownership” + “easements/rights-of-way/associated easements/land rights” within same passage
  • “title transfer” + “easements/rights-of-way/land rights” within same passage
  • “title transfer” (document title — standalone)
  • “parcel transfer” (medium confidence)
  • “property transfer” near “transmission line” or “substation” in document title (contextual; document title only)

Document title (Tier 2 scan):

  • “land exchange”
  • “land disposal”
  • “sale of land rights”
  • “land purchase and easement acquisition”
  • “land rights acquisition”
  • “easement exchange”
  • “title transfer”
  • “transmission line … property transfer” / “substation … property transfer” (within ~40 characters in title)

Excluded patterns:

  • “acquired the property as part of … land exchange” — past acquisition context, not the current action
  • “completed a NEPA review of the land exchange” — historical reference to a prior review
  • “no transfer of land ownership” — explicitly negates a transfer
  • “only change would be in ownership of assets” — asset change without land conveyance
  • “land exchanges, withdrawals, and the implementation of RMP” — background policy mention in an RMP review
  • “disposal of land parcels” / “disposals of land parcels” — generic land management language, not a discrete transaction
  • “land exchange could lower/allow/play a role/be considered” — conditional future reference, not a proposed action
  • “land exchanges are considered on a case-by-case basis” — policy description, not a specific proposed action

8. Unknown or unclear

Coding rule: Assign the unknown classification only after attempting structured extraction from title, description, process metadata, agencies, and document text and the available materials do not allow reliable identification of the triggering nexus.

Class Hypotheses

These are the class-specific hypothesis statements used in Tier 4 to determine whether a document belongs to a class.

  • federal_funding
    • This text shows that a federal agency is funding, financing, or providing financial assistance for this project, including through a grant, loan, loan guarantee, cost-sharing arrangement, cooperative agreement, or formula-based award.
  • federal_direct_action
    • This text shows that a federal agency is the primary actor directly proposing, constructing, installing, operating, managing, upgrading, rebuilding, restoring, or otherwise implementing this project, rather than merely approving or permitting someone else’s project.
  • federal_land
    • This text shows that this project is located on, crosses, or requires access to federally managed land, or that the project requires a right-of-way grant, easement, special use permit, land use authorization, or similar approval tied to use of federal land.
  • federal_permit
    • This text shows that a federal permit, license, certification, or regulatory approval is required for this project, even if the project is otherwise privately or state-led.
  • federal_program
    • This text shows that this is a programmatic, generic, site-wide, or Tier 1 environmental review covering a class of actions or a geographic area, or a broader federal planning document such as a resource management plan revision, leasing program, corridor designation, or rulemaking.
  • pma
    • This text shows that Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), Southeastern Power Administration (SEPA), Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA), or Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the lead or sponsoring agency proposing or implementing this project.
  • federal_property_transaction
    • This text shows that this involves a federal land exchange, sale, disposal, conveyance, acquisition, or transfer of land, land rights, easements, or other real-property interests.