Category: NEPA

Spring meadow and blue sky over grass field, countryside landscape
NEPA / Regulations
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Agencies Take Major Federal Action Significantly Affecting NEPA’s Future

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) applies to a major federal action that significantly affects the quality of the human environment. On June 30, several federal agencies took their own federal action which will likely have significant impacts in how NEPA is implemented in the future.

In particular, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Agriculture (DOA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Interior (DOI) and Department of Transportation (DOT) revoked their regulations which govern how these agencies handle their review of proposed projects under …

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Freight train on the railroad at sunrise. Aerial view
NEPA
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Supreme Court Cuts Down ‘Judicial Oak’ of NEPA; Energy and Infrastructure Developments Projected to Increase

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that agencies preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the guidance of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) need only to consider the environmental effects of the “project at hand” and not those that are “separate in time and place.” 

The 8-0 decision handed down May 29 in Seven Cnty. Infrastructure Coal. v. Eagle County — of which Justice Gorsuch did not take part — further held that courts should “defer to an agency’s reasonable choices regarding the scope and …

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sunrise over industrial park
Emissions / NEPA
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NEPA’s Greenhouse Gas Guidance Blown Up In Smoke

At the beginning of this year, ELM forecasted that 2025 would be a big year for the National Environmental Policy Act (previously covered by ELM  here), and so far, our prediction continues to ring true. 

In the latest NEPA news, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the withdrawal of its interim guidance on “Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change” in NEPA reviews, effective May 28. The CEQ determined this interim guidance, which was previously …

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Majestic giants in Sequoia National Park in California, USA
NEPA / Regulations
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Navigating NEPA in the New Year

On January 31 — in Marin Audubon Society et al. v. FAA et al. — the D.C. Circuit Court declined petitions for en banc review of a panel’s November 2024 ruling that the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) does not have the legal authority to promulgate regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The dispute centers around claims made by environmental groups that the Federal Aviation Administration and National Park Service violated NEPA when they approved tour flights over California’s Bay Area …

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Freight train on the railroad at sunrise. Aerial view
NEPA
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What’s Next For NEPA?

The U.S. Supreme Court last week scheduled oral arguments for December 10 in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, a highly anticipated case that focuses on whether a federal agency should be required to consider environmental effects that it does not have direct authority to regulate and that do not occur near the project itself. 

In other words, the court will determine whether the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires a federal agency to study environmental impacts beyond the proximate effects of the …

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Backhoe working in road construction site, with mountains and sky background.
NEPA
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Anticipating Significant Slowdowns in Public Projects, Twenty States Sue to Block Regulatory Changes to National Environmental Policy Act

As part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (the latest debt ceiling bill), Congress made the most significant revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) since its enactment in 1970. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has since made further changes to NEPA regulations, and those latest changes have been met with a legal challenge from 20 States’ Attorneys General.

The principal argument of the states is that since its enactment, courts have uniformly held that NEPA is a purely procedural statute, requiring agencies “to …

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Emerging Issues / NEPA / Pipeline
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The Environmental Impacts of the Debt Deal

On June 3, 2023, President Biden signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA). The FRA was the result of an agreement between White House and congressional GOP negotiators. While the centerpiece of the agreement is the two-year suspension of the debt ceiling, the FRA surprisingly includes significant environmental provisions. Specifically, the FRA amends the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and expedites completion of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline.  

The most significant NEPA amendments relate to Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), Environmental Assessments (EA), …

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