These Departmental regulations are designed to supplement the CEQ Regulations and provide for the implementation of those provisions identified in § 1507.3(b) of the CEQ Regulations. The CEQ Regulations are incorporated herein by reference. The Department's regulations seek to assure that environmental considerations and values are incorporated into the Department's decisionmaking process and assign responsibility within the Department for assessing the significant environmental effects in the United States of the Department's actions.

It is the policy of the Department of State to use all practicable means, consistent with the Department's statutory authority, available resources and national policy, to:

(a) Protect and enhance the quality of the environment;

(b) Ensure that environmental amenities and values are appropriately considered in Departmental actions;

(c) Integrate planning and environmental review procedures with the Department's decisionmaking process;

(d) Invite and facilitate, when appropriate, Federal, State and local governmental authorities and public involvement in decisions which affect the quality of the environment; and

(e) Recognize the worldwide and long-range character of environmental concerns and, when consistent with the foreign policy of the United States, lend appropriate support to initiatives, resolutions, and programs designed to maximize international cooperation in anticipating and preventing a decline in the quality of the world environment.

The provisions of these regulations apply to decisions on all Departmental actions which may affect the quality of the environment within the United States. The Department is establishing separate environmental review procedures under Executive Order 12114 (January 4, 1979) for actions having potential effects on the environment of global commons or areas outside the jurisdiction of any nation, or on the environment of foreign nations.

Definitions for many terms used in these regulations may be found in section 1508 of the CEQ Regulations. In addition, for the purpose of these regulations, the term:

(a) Responsible action officer means the Department officer principally responsible for the preparation of action memoranda and other documents relating to a given Departmental action to which by these regulations apply. Ordinarily, the responsible action officer will be the country or office director whose office has action responsibility for a given action.

(b) CEQ Regulations means the regulations implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, issued by the Council on Environmental Quality on November 29, 1978 (43 FR 55978-56007), and codified at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508.

(c) United States means the States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the other territories and possessions of the United States, including the territorial seas thereof. For the purpose of these regulations, actions having significant environmental effects on the resources of the U.S. continental shelf or resources of the U.S. Fishery Conservation Zone subject to the jurisdiction of the United States shall be considered to be actions having significant environmental effects in the United States.

(d) Environmental document means an environmental assessment, an environmental impact statement, a Finding of No Significant Impact or a Notice of Intent prepared under these regulations.