Rural businesses, REAP applicants and small communities
Prepare the environmental facts USDA Rural Development asks for: site, footprint, floodplains, wetlands, species and history, under 7 CFR 1b. Free.
ePlan fills in
How it works
What you get
The check is free. The paperwork after it is drafted at the Categorical exclusion memo (or short EA) in the agency's format door.
Modeled on: Form RD 1940-20 (Request for Environmental Information) and 7 CFR 1b.3
From public data
is the limit for the USDA categorical exclusion covering a single-family home or a housing project for up to four families
Source: 7 CFR 1b.4(c)(18)(iv), eCFR
Draft a NEPA categorical exclusion memo or short environmental assessment for a federally funded project, in the agency's format. Free to read.
Questions
USDA's department-wide NEPA procedures at 7 CFR part 1b. USDA's final rule of April 3, 2026 rescinded Rural Development's former rule at 7 CFR part 1970, keeping the parts it moved into part 1b.
Often not. RD categorical exclusions for minor construction on previously disturbed land, such as small solar on or beside an existing building, normally need no environmental documentation with the application. RD may still ask for more if extraordinary circumstances may exist.
Yes, under RD's supervision. USDA lets an applicant or contractor prepare categorical exclusion documentation or an environmental assessment. RD evaluates it independently and takes responsibility for it, and the preparer discloses any financial interest in the outcome.
Related doors
Where will the project happen?
What's the address of the loan property?
What will you sample, and where?
Where would the road or line go?
Where will the charging station go?
What are you proposing, and where?
Answer it and ePlan opens the Categorical exclusion memo (or short EA) in the agency's format door with your answer filled in.