August 5, 2020
Is a Streamlined NEPA on the Horizon?
Client Alert
On July 16, 2020, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) published a final rule in the Federal Register that could speed up the permitting process for freeways, power plants, pipelines, and other infrastructure projects with a federal component, such as federal funding or federal permitting. Prompt legal challenges to the rule have already been filed, with more anticipated, which could delay full implementation of a streamlined National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) that many had hoped for to increase certainty in NEPA evaluations and shorten project timelines.