CEQ initiated a two-phase NEPA rulemaking effort this year – Phase 1 is now finalized, and the Phase 2 proposal is currently open for comment. We break down the implications of changes for project developers.
What’s the issue?
In 2020, the Trump Administration enacted sweeping amendments to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations that date back to 1978, with the goal of streamlining review processes and reducing the time to permit interstate pipelines. What resulted instead was a period of significant uncertainty surrounding environmental reviews, compounded by several lawsuits designed to reverse those amendments, and then by the Biden Administration’s decision to delay their implementation while it considered its own NEPA amendments.
Why does it matter?
CEQ conducts rulemaking processes that include public comment, which interprets NEPA statutes into regulations. These regulations provide a framework for federal agencies to craft their own conforming regulations. In the first half of this year, CEQ initiated a two-phase rulemaking effort; Phase 1 is now finalized, and a Phase 2 proposal is currently open for comment. Additionally, CEQ has issued more expansive official guidance for agencies on how to consider GHG emissions under NEPA.
What’s our view?
The first in this two-part series will address the impact of Phase 1 and the GHG Guidance; a forthcoming article will look deeper into Phase 2. Two conflicting forces present themselves in the recent reforms: increasing the breadth and depth of environmental analysis and decreasing the time it takes to do it. We believe FERC is well positioned to navigate these changes as it is well staffed, seasoned in GHG analysis, and has completed EAs in under one year and EISs in under two years in 88% of its projects since 2008.
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