NEPA Revised Draft Guidance On Consideration Of GHG Emissions: Version 2.0

Elizabeth Lake is a Partner in Holland & Knight's San Francisco office

Proposal Requires Federal Agencies to Assess GHG and Climate Change Impacts and Encourages Substantive GHG Reductions Under the National Environmental Policy Act

HIGHLIGHTS:

• NEPA's Revised Draft Guidance could require a significant level of additional analysis, including analysis of "upstream" and "downstream" impacts as well as a cost-benefit analysis in certain circumstances.
• The proposed guidance goes well beyond the well-established NEPA non-substantive "hardlook" doctrine by instructing agencies to use the NEPA process to force the substantive reduction of GHG emissions.
• Although the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) intends the guidance to "lessen litigation driven by uncertainty," it is not clear the Revised Draft Guidance will accomplish this goal.