NEPA provides that agencies can establish a categorical exclusion (CE) for categories of actions that a Federal agency has determined normally do not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment and therefore do not require an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement. The use of CEs can reduce paperwork, save agencies time and resources, and refocus environmental analysis on the issues of greatest importance. CEQ has issued guidance for Federal agencies on how to establish, revise, adopt, and apply CEs.
List of Agency Categorical Exclusions
CEQ maintains a comprehensive list of the CEs that Federal agencies have established in their agency NEPA procedures. Agencies may use this resource to identify categorical exclusions for adoption or in establishing similar categorical exclusions in their agency NEPA procedures. This resource is provided for ease of reference; for an authoritative list of CEs please reference agency NEPA procedures.
Categorical Exclusion Explorer
On June 5, 2025, CEQ launched the Categorical Exclusion Explorer (CE Explorer), which is a digitized public database listing each Federal agency’s existing CEs. Users can search the database to view Federal agencies’ categorical exclusions. The CE Explorer can be viewed at: