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Environmental Policies National Environmental Policy Act Government Agencies

ArentFox Schiff

Bipartisan SPEED Act Aims to Streamline NEPA Environmental Reviews for Federal Grant and Loan Recipients

ArentFox Schiff on

Recently introduced bipartisan legislation aims to significantly streamline the environmental review process for recipients of federal assistance....more

Beveridge & Diamond PC

Federal Agencies Overhaul Longstanding NEPA Regulations

Beveridge & Diamond PC on

Key Takeaways - What happened: Over the last few weeks, individual federal agencies have issued interim final rules (IFRs) to largely rescind their existing NEPA regulations. Agencies have replaced those regulations with a...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economy Development Act: Congressman Westerman (Arkansas) Introduces National...

United States Congressman Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas) has introduced legislation into the United States House of Representatives titled: Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act (“SPEED Act”)....more

Baker Donelson

Seven County Infrastructure Coal. v. Eagle Cnty., Colo. – Supreme Court's "Course Correction" on NEPA Already Steering Decisions...

Baker Donelson on

The United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, on May 19, 2025, clarifying that the scope of judicial review of federal agency environmental...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Another Step Change for USDA’s GE Regs: APHIS Ceases NEPA Review of Petitions for Nonregulated Status

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on July 9, 2025, that it will no longer conduct environmental analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when...more

Perkins Coie

Failure to Explain Selection of Project Alternative Violated NEPA and APA

Perkins Coie on

The Ninth Circuit held that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acted arbitrarily and capriciously by failing to explain in its Record of Decision why it selected a project alternative that did not meet the development...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

NEPA Reimagined: The Ongoing Overhaul of Federal Environmental Review

Over the past eight months, the legal framework governing environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has undergone significant upheaval—with additional changes still on the way. Here’s what’s...more

Allen Matkins

Project Applicants Can Now Pay for Expedited Federal Environmental Review Under NEPA

Allen Matkins on

The budget reconciliation bill signed into law on July 4 (also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”) adds a new provision to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that allows project sponsors/applicants to pay for...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

The New NEPA: Federal Agencies Overhaul Procedures for Environmental Reviews

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

On July 3, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”), and the Departments of Energy (“DOE”), Interior (“DOI”), Transportation (“DOT”),...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Extreme Makeover – NEPA Edition: Permitting Agencies Strip Their Environmental Review Regulations Down To The Studs

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In the past two weeks, six federal permitting agencies — the U.S. Departments of Interior (USDOI), Agriculture (USDA), Energy (DOE), Commerce (DoC), Defense (DoD), and Transportation (USDOT) — withdrew most of their National...more

Jones Day

Evolving NEPA Regulations May Facilitate Energy Projects

Jones Day on

The National Environmental Protection Act ("NEPA") requires that federal agencies assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making final decisions, including decisions on issuing federal permits,...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Generate Power for the Columbia River Basin (Trump EO Tracker)

Revokes the September 27, 2023 Presidential Memorandum on restoring fish populations in the Columbia River Basin and directs relevant agencies to withdraw from the associated litigation MOU, halt the current SEIS process, and...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 6.6.25

Allen Matkins on

On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court held that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — which requires federal agencies to analyze the environmental impacts of projects that they perform, fund, or approve — does not...more

Allen Matkins

Renewable Energy Update 6.6.25

Allen Matkins on

On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court held that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — which requires federal agencies to analyze the environmental impacts of projects that they carry out, fund, or approve — does not...more

Winstead PC

Supreme Court Reins in NEPA Reviews - Clearing the Path for Developers

Winstead PC on

On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, No. 23-975, 605 U.S. ___ (2025), sharply limiting the scope of environmental review obligations under the...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

National Environmental Policy Act/Environmental Permitting: Council on Environmental Quality Issues Permitting Technology Action...

The Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) issued what is titled: Permitting Technology Action Plan (“PTAP”). The PTAP is stated to have been developed in consultation with the National Energy Dominance Council and...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Supreme Court Curbs the Scope of NEPA Reviews in Landmark Decision: Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County,...

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

In the first major National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) case to reach the Supreme Court in almost two decades, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision on May 29, 2025, in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v....more

Allen Matkins

“A Course Correction”: Supreme Court Reinforces Agency Deference and Narrows the Scope of Environmental Effects that Agencies Must...

Allen Matkins on

On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court held that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — which requires federal agencies to analyze the environmental impacts of projects that they carry out, fund, or approve — does not...more

Hanson Bridgett

The Supreme Court Takes Aim at NEPA

Hanson Bridgett on

On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court issued its Opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition et al. v. Eagle County, Colorado et al., one of the most high-profile National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, cases to reach...more

Carlton Fields

Everything (Including Inconsistent Things) All at Once: The Trump Administration’s Initial Steps Toward Permitting Reform

Carlton Fields on

President Trump came into office pledging to speed up federal environmental permitting, and he has issued a series of executive orders that touch on some aspect of expediting environmental reviews....more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 5.2.25

Allen Matkins on

The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) circulated a draft template, dated April 8, 2025, to assist federal agencies in updating their procedures for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)....more

Allen Matkins

White House Council on Environmental Quality Releases Draft NEPA Template Following CEQ’s Rescission of Longstanding Regulations

Allen Matkins on

Last week, several news outlets reported that the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) circulated a draft template dated April 8, 2025 among federal agencies to assist in updating their procedures for...more

Cozen O'Connor

Democratic AGs Oppose CEQ’s Repeal of NEPA Regulations

Cozen O'Connor on

Nineteen Democratic AGs and the Harris County Attorney (Houston, Texas) have submitted comments opposing the President’s Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Interim Final Rule (Proposed Rule), which would repeal CEQ’s...more

Wenning Environmental

Will damage, impact, and risk assessment get “DOGE’d”?

Wenning Environmental on

President Trump’s January 31, 2025, executive order (EO), Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) February 25 interim final rule removing CEQ regulations...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Council on Environmental Quality Rescinds NEPA Regulations

Federal agencies are now responsible for their own National Environmental Policy Act procedures, creating uncertainty and opportunity for federal environmental reviews....more

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