CE Virtual Assistant

With more than 2,000 categorical exclusions (CEs) available for interagency adoption across the federal government, it is imperative that agencies, sponsors, and consultants have the tools necessary to quickly identify and screen potential fits for their programs or projects. Recognizing the need to simplify this process, ESA created the CE Virtual Assistant. This custom GPT uses project description information to identify potential CEs, facilitating a more timely and efficient project screening process.

Categorical exclusions (CEs) represent the lowest level of review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and account for more than 95 percent of all federal NEPA decisions. Recent statutory and regulatory changes have significantly expanded both the availability and flexibility of CEs. Amendments to NEPA adopted through the Fiscal Responsibility Act (U.S. Coed Title 42, Section 4339) authorize agencies to adopt CEs established by other agencies, prompting agencies across the federal government to review more than 2,000 available CEs to identify those applicable to their programs or projects. More recently, updated guidance from the Council on Environmental Quality reflects a more permissive approach to CE use on projects.

As a result of these changes, it is increasingly important that agency staff, project sponsors, and consultants understand which CEs may be available and appropriate for their programs or projects when determining the best path to NEPA compliance. Manually reviewing the full universe of available CEs, however, is labor‑ and time‑intensive. To address this challenge, ESA created the CE Virtual Assistant, which uses project description information—provided in text or graphic form—to generate preliminary screening questions and identify candidate CEs for consideration.

The CE Virtual Assistant is intended to support early‑stage screening by helping users identify potentially applicable CEs, consider extraordinary or unusual circumstances, and flag project elements that may not fit cleanly within CE parameters. It is not a CE determination tool. Rather, it serves as a virtual assistant to help users think through how best to leverage CEs in support of NEPA compliance.

Example Prompts

The tool performs best with detailed project descriptions like this:

A city proposes to replace a one-mile section of water main pipe that is on National Forest land. The city has an easement for the pipe but not certain if in-kind, in-place replacement is allowed under the existing easement as “maintenance.” Also, the city will need to remove several large diameter trees (>21 in dbh) – some of which may be outside their existing easement – in order to replace the aging pipe. The city will also need to operate large equipment outside of their existing easement. Could this be covered under a Cat Ex?

But it can also work from more limited information and will follow up with specific questions to help refine the analysis and improve the confidence of its recommendations. A simple prompt will start the conversation with the GPT to begin initial screening:

USDA provided funding to expand a compost facility located on private lands. USDA will not have control over design or delivery of the project. Does this quality for a CE?

In addition to text prompts, the GPT will accept uploads of images or design drawings and can provide suggestions based on review of those files.

Privacy and Confidentiality

This Navigator runs on a third-party AI platform. ESA does not receive, collect, or store the conversations you have with this Navigator. No ESA team member has any access to view chats and any files you upload during a conversation with the GPT will be deleted once you complete the chat. The GPT will not retain user files beyond the active session.

However, as with any external tool, you should avoid entering sensitive, confidential, or privileged information. If you need to work through a sensitive scenario, you can describe it in general or anonymized terms (e.g., “a coastal State DOT,” “a complex EIS,” “a Section 7 schedule issue”) and still receive useful guidance.

We Are Here to Help

At ESA, we recognize the importance of integrating emerging technologies to increase efficiency and improve project delivery. The CE Virtual Assistant reflects our commitment to innovation and is being made available to the public to help advance the practice of NEPA implementation. We invite you to explore the tool and share your feedback. And, if you have any questions related to NEPA or CEs in particular, please reach out to Eric Beightel, ESA’s Federal Strategy Director.

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