National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementation is changing again – but NEPA remains and NEPA analyses will continue without delay. On February 25, 2025 the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published an Interim Final Rule to rescind their NEPA implementing regulations, the consistent framework for federal agency NEPA implementation for nearly 50 years.
Why is This Happening?
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order (E.O.) 14154, Unleashing American Energy, which directed CEQ to propose rescinding CEQ’s NEPA regulations and to provide guidance on implementing NEPA.
What Does This Mean?
The NEPA statute, which requires federal agencies to take a careful look at potential impacts of projects they propose, remains as enacted in 1969 and amended in 2023. Federal agencies will still be required to comply with the NEPA statute and conduct environmental reviews of a major federal action. Most federal agencies have their own NEPA implementing regulations that they follow in addition to CEQ’s regulations. In lieu of binding regulations, CEQ will now issue guidance to federal agencies to assist them in revising their own regulations. NEPA will continue to be an integral part of projects with a federal nexus (e.g. federal funding, federal authorization, an action carried out by a federal agency), but the regulations on how to implement the law itself would be, upon Final Rule, in the hands of each federal agency.
What Happens Next?
The Interim Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on February 25 and is open for public comment. CEQ also issued guidance on how federal agencies should implement NEPA going forward, which directs agencies to update their own NEPA implementing regulations within one year. In the interim while new regulations are being developed, agencies should “continue to follow their existing practices and procedures for implementing NEPA consistent with the text of NEPA, E.O. 14154, [CEQ] guidance. Agencies should not delay pending or ongoing NEPA analyses while undertaking these revisions.”
Public Comments
Comments are due by March 27 and may be submitted online, by fax, or by mail. All comments must include “Council on Environmental Quality” and reference docket number CEQ-2025-0002.
- Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://regulations.gov
- Fax: 202-456-6546
- Mail: Council on Environmental Quality, 730 Jackson Place NW, Washington, DC 20503
WSSI Can Help!
WSSI’s NEPA team is tracking all NEPA directives and guidance being issued by federal agencies and can work with you to keep your project on track. Please contact your WSSI project manager or the staff listed below to discuss how the changing NEPA regulations may impact your projects.