Environmental permitting review narrowed in wake of Supreme Court decision
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Federal agencies on Monday began rolling out updates to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures in the wake of a presidential order and Supreme Court decision narrowing the scope of those requirements.
Why it matters: The changes mean fewer projects will need environmental reviews and regulators will have less time to identify potentially significant environmental consequences of major infrastructure projects.
- Industry groups and their supporters have long complained that NEPA reviews have grown beyond what Congress intended, often dragging out the approval process.
Driving the news: The Defense Department, Energy Department, Agriculture Department and other agencies published new NEPA guidance, which each hailed as cutting unnecessary red tape.
- "These reforms replace outdated rules with clear deadlines, restore agency authority, and put us back on the path to energy dominance, job creation, and commonsense action," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. "Build, baby, build!"
- The proposed changes at DOE include reducing the maximum time for completion of an environmental assessment through an environmental impact statement from three years to two.
- DOE employees also are directed to maximize use of a streamlined process known as "categorical exclusions" for activities that are not seen as harming the environment.
The Agriculture Department also said it is rescinding seven agency-specific regulations, resulting in a 66% reduction in regulations.
- "This will allow USDA officials to concentrate resources on projects the public needs while also ensuring we honor the department's legacy of land stewardship," the department said in a statement.
Context: President Trump, on his first day in office, initiated major changes aimed at reducing NEPA burdens.
- They included an interim final rule to repeal White House Council for Environmental Quality NEPA regulations and guidance directing agencies to update NEPA regulations and procedures.
The Supreme Court in May also reduced the scope of reviews under NEPA to focus only on immediate impacts.
- At issue in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County was whether the federal Surface Transportation Board should assess climate change impacts when authorizing a railway seeking to connect Utah's crude oil to the national rail network and on to Gulf Coast refineries.
- Justices determined that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit went too far in requiring regulators to look at potential effects on Gulf Coast communities.
The other side: Environmental and other interest groups and Democrats have argued that attempts to overhaul NEPA risk harming the environment.
