Office of Federal Activities

**What We Do** The Office of Federal Activities coordinates EPA’s review of all federal environmental impact statements prepared by other agencies under the [National Environmental Policy Act](https://www.epa.gov/nepa). OFA also coordinates EPA’s internal compliance with NEPA. OFA uses its expertise to help other agencies and the public understand how proposed federal government actions affect human health and the environment. OFA also leads and coordinates Agency-wide efforts to accelerate sound permitting decisions while protecting health and the environment. - **NEPA Compliance Division:** NCD oversees the agency’s NEPA compliance work. NCD’s efforts foster good governance by ensuring that Federal agencies adhere to the “look before you leap” principle undergirding NEPA. Promoting good NEPA analysis helps prevent wasteful commitments of federal spending and actions with unexpected environmental downsides. Together with EPA headquarters and regional offices, NCD represents EPA to other federal agencies to implement the environmental requirements of NEPA and Section 309 of the Clean Air Act, which requires EPA to comment on other agencies’ NEPA analyses. NCD’s work informs the public and helps to improve other agencies’ NEPA analysis. - **Permitting Policy Division:** PPD serves as the agency’s central point of contact for federal agencies on EPA-issued permits. PPD coordinates with EPA’s three major permitting offices (Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Water, and Office of Land and Emergency Management) and EPA's ten regional offices to streamline permit issuance and foster consistency and timeliness. PPD provides direction and coordination for the EPA’s permitting activities through the following responsibilities: - - Leads the identification and tracking of common permit performance measures to guide coordinated cycle time reduction and consistency efforts. - Increases transparency and accountability across all EPA permit programs. - Serves as the EPA’s advocate and central point of contact for all Federal agencies on EPA issued permits. - Promotes early coordination between the regulated community and state/federal permitting programs. - Oversees and tracks the timely and synchronized permit issuance within the environmental review process for Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST-41) projects.