Policy Backgrounders

Revised National Environmental Policy Act Regulations

August 02, 2023

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the agency responsible for enforcement of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), issues proposed regulations that form a comprehensive revision of the regulations governing federal agencies’ preparation of environmental impact statements.

• The proposed regulations mostly, but not entirely, revert to the language of the 1978 regulations that governed actions under NEPA until 2020. A renewed focus on climate change and environmental justice are two principal changes going beyond the 1978 regulations.
• The proposed regulations contain efforts to streamline the process, including limitations on length and timing for preparation of environmental assessments and environmental impact statements but also provide that these may be waived “for proposals of extraordinary complexity.”
• Comments are due on the proposed regulations by September 29, 2023.