On Wednesday, July 15, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), a division of the Executive Office of the President, released a final rule updating the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA was signed into law on January 1, 1970, and this is the first update to the regulations since their original promulgation in 1978. The final rule “comprehensively updates, modernizes and clarifies the regulations to facilitate more efficient, effective, and timely NEPA reviews by Federal agencies in connection with proposals for agency action.”
These updates are aimed at streamlining the complicated NEPA process, which has resulted in “excessive paperwork and lengthy delays.” APGA members have experienced this first-hand with significant delays to their pipeline projects and those of their suppliers. Some of the changes in this rule include ensuring that “environmental documents prepared pursuant to NEPA are concise and serve their purpose of informing decision-makers regarding significant potential environmental effects of proposed major Federal actions and the public of the environmental issues in the pending decision-making process. CEQ makes changes to ensure that the regulations reflect changes in technology, increase public participation in the process, and facilitate the use of existing studies, analyses, and environmental documents prepared by States, Tribes, and local governments.”
While the rule is set to go into effect on September 14, 2020, stakeholders anticipate significant pushback. Following the publication of the proposed rule in January 2020, CEQ received over 1.1 million comments. Over 99% of those comments were the result of mass mail campaigns. Furthermore, all federal agencies must propose revisions to their own NEPA rules, as necessary, to bring them into compliance with the updated CEQ rules no later than a year after the effective date.
In an effort to support the administration in the modernization of the NEPA regulations, APGA is a member of the Unlock American Investment coalition, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This coalition believes “modernizing NEPA will unlock American investment in modern, efficient infrastructure creating middle-class sustaining jobs while advancing good environmental stewardship.”
Final Rule: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-07-16/pdf/2020-15179.pdf
Unlock American Investment: https://www.unlockamericaninvestment.com/
For questions on this article, please contact Erin Kurilla of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at ekurilla@apga.org.