On June 20, 2018, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) announced that it is considering updates to its implementing regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). CEQ is responsible for issuing guidelines that other federal agencies must follow when evaluating the environmental impacts of federal actions. The June 20th Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPR”), which was issued in response to President Trump’s Executive Order No. 13807, “Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects,” presents the first major opportunity for the public to participate in reshaping the NEPA process since CEQ first published its regulations in 1978. The rulemaking will be of particular interest to developers of, and investors in, large infrastructure projects ranging from energy pipelines, energy import/export facilities, and electric transmission lines to water, road and mass transit infrastructure projects.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 13807 -

The main premise of Executive Order No. 13807 is that slow environmental review processes have prevented investment in U.S. infrastructure, imposing extra costs on Americans and hindering economic growth. As a result, the Order states, the federal government needs to “change the way it processes environmental reviews and authorization decisions.” The Order aims to streamline the environmental review process by establishing a “One Federal Decision” policy, under which the federal agencies involved in environmental reviews and permitting for a major infrastructure project must develop a single permitting timetable, prepare a single environmental impact statement (“EIS”), sign a single Record of Decision (“ROD”), and issue all project approvals within 90 days of the ROD.