Council On Environmental Quality Proposes Phase Two Revision To Its NEPA Implementing Regulations

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has proposed further amendments to its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations as part of its phased rulemaking initiated in 2021. The proposed Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule (Proposed Rule), published in the July 31, 2023, Federal Register, is the second phase of CEQ's rulemaking effort and reflects a broad proposal to "revise, update and modernize" the regulations at 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508.

Phase one of CEQ's NEPA rulemaking, finalized on April 20, 2022 (2022 Rule), was a targeted reversal of three of the agency's more controversial changes made in the last year of the Trump Administration (2020 Rule). By comparison, the Proposed Rule is a vehicle for Biden Administration priorities, including implementation of bipartisan permitting reforms in the Fiscal Responsibility Act and first-time codification of climate change and environmental justice principles for NEPA purposes.