Debt Ceiling Legislation Includes Significant Amendments To The National Environmental Policy Act

Late last week, following extensive bipartisan negotiations, the House and Senate passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, raising the nation's debt ceiling. President Biden signed the act into law on Saturday afternoon. As part of that legislation, Congress amended the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in several significant ways. Most significantly, the scope of environmental documents has changed, additional guidance is provided on levels of review and lead agencies, timelines and page counts from the revised Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations are codified with enforcement mechanisms and reporting to Congress, and Congress has provided funds for CEQ to study the potential for a centralized online NEPA database. Further, the definition of "major federal action" has changed.