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The
proposal would revise National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
implementing regulations by encouraging more "programmatic"
environmental reviews of multiple projects rather than
individual reviews, and by allowing federal agencies to exclude
more project categories from review.
It would also limit the need for environmental reviews for
projects that federal agencies deem to have significant and
long-lasting positive impacts.
The new rule was proposed by the Council on Environmental
Quality, a White House division that said the changes to the
NEPA review process would accelerate the adoption of clean
energy in the U.S. while strengthening protections for
communities by encouraging earlier public comments on projects.
NEPA is a bedrock environmental law that requires environmental
reviews for major projects, and is a frequent focus of
litigation that can delay projects for years.
The White House said the proposed rule "would fully implement
and build upon new permitting efficiencies" directed by Congress
in this year's debt ceiling law.
The rule would build on initial work to reform the NEPA process
finalized last year, when the White House reversed a Trump
administration overhaul of the process. Last year's changes
required federal agencies to consider the “direct,” “indirect,”
and “cumulative” impacts of proposed projects or actions,
including a full evaluation of climate impacts.
White House climate adviser John Podesta told reporters in a
teleconference Thursday that the country needs 60% more
transmission by 2030 in order to keep on track to meeting
President Joe Biden’s clean energy and infrastructure goals.
The permitting process is currently “plagued by delays,” Podesta
said, adding that the reforms would help. But lawmakers still
need to pass more thorough reforms, he said.
Republican Senator Kevin Cramer, a member of the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee countered that the
changes would only make it easier for environmental activists
"to tie up and drag out expensive litigation."
Ben Jealous, the executive director of the Sierra Club, said in
a statement the reforms would allow for the build out of clean
energy projects “without sacrificing communities or rubber
stamping more fossil fuels.”
The proposed rule must now go through a public comment period
before the White House can finalize approval.
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