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ARTICLE · 25 APRIL 2022

CEQ Restores The Status Quo With Phase 1 Changes To NEPA Regulations

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
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Jon Hrobsky, Policy Director Luke Johnson, Policy Director William McGrath, Shareholder Andrew Spielman, Shareholder Eric Waeckerlin, Shareholder Courtney Shephard, Associate

United StatesEnvironment
Jon Hrobsky
Jon Hrobsky
Luke D. Johnson
Luke D. Johnson
William J. McGrath
William J. McGrath
Andrew Spielman
Andrew Spielman
Eric Waeckerlin
Eric Waeckerlin
Courtney Shephard
Courtney Shephard

On Wednesday, April 20, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published a final rule completing the first stage of rulemaking to revise certain provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act's (NEPA) implementing regulations. The Phase 1 Final Rule did not significantly deviate from the proposed rule CEQ released for public comment last October. The Phase 1 Final Rule's major changes are summarized below.
 
In 2020, the previous administration overhauled the CEQ regulations for the first time since their inception in 1978 (the 2020 Final Rule). The current administration disagreed with many of those changes and embarked on a two-step review process. In Phase 1, CEQ revised certain provisions to revert to the previous regulatory language and intent:

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