The U.S. Department of Transportation issued three sets of revisions to its National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA implementation procedures for environmental review of infrastructure projects – changes aimed at fast-tracking the construction of roads and bridges, as well as broadband and energy installations.
[Above photo by USDOT]
The USDOT said in a statement that its NEPA reforms combine six separate sets of procedures into one unified USDOT Order; providing a one stop shop for NEPA reviews for most of USDOT’s modal administrations.
Two other sets of revisions include the NEPA procedures for the Federal Aviation Administration as well as those used by the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, and Federal Transit Administration.
Specifically, USDOT released three specific updates to its NEPA implementing procedures, which were last revised in 1985: (1) Department-wide Order 5610.1D; (2) Joint FHWA, FRA, and FTA procedures, 23 CFR Part 771; and, (3) FAA’s Order 1050.1G.
USDOT noted that it issued those updates in coordination with the White House Council on Environmental Quality or CEQ as part of the Trump administration’s broad strategy to simplify the environmental review and permitting process and to ensure efficient and timely environmental reviews.
[Editor’s note: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials offered feedback to the CEQ regarding its NEPA overall in March, as well broader feedback on USDOT regulatory efforts in May.]
Other key NEPA procedural changes initiated by USDOT include:
- Implementing deadlines and page limits on environmental reviews required under recent NEPA amendments to expedite infrastructure development and reduce costs.
- Provide clarification that NEPA does not apply to every action that a federal agency takes, but only to federal actions where the agency has sufficient control and discretion to take environmental effects into account.
- Ensure simple and expeditious processes to create categorical exclusions – which USDOT described as “the least burdensome” class of action – as well as to adopt those developed by other federal agencies to help minimize repetitive NEPA analyses; focusing federal agency attention on actions with “truly significant” environmental effects.
USDOT added that its reform of NEPA implementing procedures follows what the agency described as “clear guidance” set forth in President Trump’s Unleashing American Energy Executive Order; Congress’ BUILDER Act amendments, as part of the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act; and the Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County.
Top Stories
