On-Demand Webinar | The New NEPA Regulations: A Practical Guide to What You Need to Know
In keeping with the Trump Administration's goals of permitting reform, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on Sept. 29, 2025, issued an updated guidance memorandum to the heads of federal agencies regarding...more
Environmental reviews can cause major project delays. Manufacturers must navigate complex federal, state, and local approvals that can stall construction if not planned early. Some reforms are streamlining — but vary by...more
On September 29, 2025, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”), a federal agency within the Office of the President, issued a 10-page memorandum directed to federal department and agency heads, providing guidance on...more
Over the summer, the White House released its “AI Action Plan,” setting forth a host of policy pronouncements for the advancement and support of U.S. dominance in AI. One of the policy “pillars” should have all environmental...more
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued new guidance and an accompanying template for agency National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review procedures on September 29, 2025, marking the latest in a long line of...more
What You Need to Know - The new CEQ guidance modifies prior guidance issued on February 19, 2025, and contains a new directive: prioritizing efficiency and certainty over any other NEPA policy objective....more
The Trump administration’s new Executive Order formally adopts a policy to “enhance American greatness in space.” The EO directs streamlining and reform efforts in four key areas—commercial launch and reentry, spaceport...more
David Bowie’s hit song "Space Oddity," about the fictional astronaut Major Tom, was released as a single in 1969. Environmental impact statements (EIS) for rocket launches in the US were not required at that time. Rocket...more
The Trump administration came into office in 2025 promising to speed federal environmental permitting by, among other things, streamlining compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In the whirlwind of the...more
The past month brought a flurry of updates from federal agencies publishing new procedures to implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), following President Trump’s Executive Order 14154 (EO 14154) in January...more
On July 23, 2025, just hours after releasing the AI Action Plan, President Donald Trump signed three executive orders aimed at accelerating data center construction, expanding the global reach of U.S. AI technology and...more
While shifting political winds don’t literally blow through the trees, their force and impact can cause environmental policy to lurch back and forth. For instance, in 2020, during the final quarter of the first Trump...more
On July 23, 2025, the White House issued an Executive Order titled “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure.” Released alongside “America’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan,” the Order reflects a...more
There have been more changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and its implementing regulations in the past nine months than perhaps at any point since NEPA was signed into law by President Nixon on January 1,...more
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on July 9, 2025, that it will no longer conduct environmental analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when...more
The budget reconciliation bill signed into law on July 4 (also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”) adds a new provision to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that allows project sponsors/applicants to pay for...more
On July 3, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”), and the Departments of Energy (“DOE”), Interior (“DOI”), Transportation (“DOT”),...more
On July 3, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final rule revising its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) to remove references to the recently rescinded...more
Establishes the President’s Make America Beautiful Again Commission to coordinate federal conservation efforts and expand outdoor recreation access. The Commission is directed to promote natural resource stewardship, reduce...more
The National Environmental Protection Act ("NEPA") requires that federal agencies assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making final decisions, including decisions on issuing federal permits,...more
On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court held that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — which requires federal agencies to analyze the environmental impacts of projects that they carry out, fund, or approve — does not...more
President Trump came into office pledging to speed up federal environmental permitting, and he has issued a series of executive orders that touch on some aspect of expediting environmental reviews....more
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) circulated a draft template, dated April 8, 2025, to assist federal agencies in updating their procedures for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)....more
On March 28, 2025, the D.C. Circuit denied a joint petition for review brought by Healthy Gulf and Sierra Club (together, “Petitioners”) challenging FERC’s grant of a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to...more
President Trump’s January 31, 2025, executive order (EO), Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) February 25 interim final rule removing CEQ regulations...more