Biden admin takes key step in restoring NEPA protections
Gila National Forest, New Mexico
Mason Cummings, TWS
NEPA rollbacks restored but continued assessment of the law lies ahead
Washington, DC (April 19, 2022) –The White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published a rule on Tuesday restoring key regulatory provisions requiring science-based analysis and public input on the climate, biodiversity, and environmental justice impacts of federal decisions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Enacted in 1970, NEPA is widely considered our environmental "Bill of Rights." The Trump administration seriously weakened CEQ’s NEPA regulations, which govern how more than 80 federal agencies comply with the law.
Today’s action eliminates three of the most significant rollbacks, and paves the way for a broader “Phase 2” rulemaking that CEQ is undertaking to ensure the regulations facilitate effective, efficient, and inclusive NEPA reviews that meet environmental, climate, and environmental justice outcomes.
The following statement is from Alison Flint, Senior Legal Director for The Wilderness Society:
“For more than 50 years, NEPA has required the federal government to consider how projects will affect the environment and ensure local communities – the people who must live with the consequences – have a fair chance to weigh in. Today’s action by CEQ marks an important step in restoring the power and promise of NEPA as the bedrock law that keeps our communities and planet healthy. We must continue to restore and improve NEPA to protect communities, wild places, and our climate.”
Contact:
Chelsi Moy, Communications Manager, chelsi_moy@tws.org, (406) 240-3013
