On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14154, Unleashing American Energy, which directed the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to propose rescinding CEQ’s NEPA regulations and to instead provide guidance on implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Executive Order 14154 also explicitly revoked the 1977 Carter Administration’s Executive Order 11191 which directed CEQ to promulgate NEPA regulations and required Federal agencies to comply with those regulations.
Today, February 25, 2025, CEQ published an Interim Final Rule announcing the removal of the existing NEPA regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations. CEQ’s position is that it “may lack authority to issue binding rules on agencies in the absence of the now-rescinded [Executive Order] 11191.” Today’s notice states that the effective date of the Interim Final Rule will be April 11, 2025. Although the Interim Final Rule announces CEQ’s legal conclusion that notice and comment rulemaking is not required for this action, CEQ nevertheless is voluntarily providing an opportunity to provide public comment on the interim final rule through April 11, 2025. Importantly, CEQ advises that its Interim Final Rule “does not strip agencies of discretion to continue following similar procedures” or to rely on their own NEPA implementing procedures – even those procedures that largely conform to CEQ’s regulations.
In response to the January 20, 2025 Executive Order, CEQ has also issued a memorandum providing guidance to heads of Federal Departments and Agencies. This guidance memo directs agencies to revise or establish NEPA implementing procedures to expedite permitting approvals and for consistency with the current NEPA statute. Agencies are directed to complete the revisions of their procedures by February 19, 2026. The memorandum also advises that while these revisions are ongoing, “agencies should continue to follow their existing practices and procedures for implementing NEPA consistent with the text of NEPA, [Executive Order] 14154 and this guidance.”
The guidance memorandum also includes updated policy directions designed to ensure that NEPA analyses comply with the administration’s emphasis on expediting environmental reviews, eliminating analysis of environmental justice impacts, and adhering to a strict interpretation of statutory requirements.
While the regulatory landscape changes, there are several key take-aways:
- NEPA, as set forth in statute (42 U.S.C. § 4331, et seq.), is still in full effect and federal agencies must still conduct appropriate environmental reviews for federal actions that may impact the environment. The effects of past caselaw that relied on the CEQ regulations is unclear, however.
- While it will take time for new procedures to evolve, agencies are being directed to comply with the statute, to expedite NEPA approvals, and to meet applicable deadlines.
- Interested stakeholders can comment on the interim final rule directing the rescission of the CEQ regulations. Any such comments must be filed by April 11, 2025.
- Stakeholders should also monitor developments as individual agencies update their respective NEPA implementing procedures.
For additional questions, please contact Katie van Heuven, Nate Hunt, Matt Adams, John Putnam, or any other Kaplan Kirsch attorney with whom you normally work.