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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 192 / Thursday, October 7, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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20, 2021, specifically directs CEQ to review the 2020 NEPA Regulations for consistency with E.O. 13990s objectives.17
On January 27, 2021, the President signed E.O. 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which establishes a government-wide approach to the climate crisis by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and an Administration policy to increase climate resilience, transition to a cleanenergy economy, address environmental justice and invest in disadvantaged communities, and spur well-paying union jobs and economic growth.18 E.O.
14008 also requires the Chair of CEQ
and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget OMB to ensure that Federal infrastructure investments reduce climate pollution and that Federal permitting decisions consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.19
II. CEQs Approach to Revising the 2020 NEPA Regulations Consistent with E.O. 13990 and E.O.
14008, CEQ is engaged in a comprehensive review of the 2020
NEPA Regulations to ensure that they provide for sound and efficient environmental review of Federal actions, including those actions integral to tackling the climate crisis, in a manner that enables meaningful public participation, respects Tribal sovereignty, protects our Nations resources, and promotes better environmental and community outcomes. CEQ proposes regulatory changes in this NPRM to enhance clarity on NEPA implementation, to better effectuate NEPAs statutory requirements and purposes, to ensure that Federal decisions are guided by science, to better protect and enhance the quality of the human environment, and to provide full and fair processes that inform the public about the environmental effects of government actions and enable public participation.
CEQs review of the 2020 NEPA
Regulations and the proposed regulatory amendments are guided by CEQs and Federal agencies extensive experience implementing NEPA for the last 50
years. As part of its oversight role, CEQ
reviews every agencys proposed new or updated NEPA implementing procedures. As part of this iterative process, CEQ engages with agencies to 17 White House Fact Sheet: List of Agency Actions for Review Jan. 20, 2021, https
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statementsreleases/2021/01/20/fact-sheet-list-of-agencyactions-for-review/.
18 86 FR 7619 Feb. 1, 2021.
19 Id., sec. 213a.

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understand their specific authorities and programs to ensure consideration of environmental impacts is integrated into their decision-making processes.
Additionally, where necessary or appropriate, CEQ engages with agencies on NEPA reviews for specific projects or project types. For example, CEQ has convened interagency working groups to ensure efficient and effective environmental reviews for transportation and broadband projects.
CEQ also has extensive experience providing written guidance to Federal agencies on a wide range of NEPArelated issues, including environmental justice, emergency response activities, climate change, and more.20 And, CEQ
meets regularly with external stakeholders to understand their perspectives on the NEPA process.
Finally, CEQ coordinates with other Federal agencies and components of the White House on a wide array of environmental issues that also arise in the NEPA context, such as endangered species consultation or impacts to Federal lands and waters from federally permitted activities.
It is CEQs view that the 2020 NEPA
Regulations may have the effect of limiting the scope of NEPA analysis, with negative repercussions for environmental protection and environmental quality, including in critical areas such as climate change and environmental justice. Portions of the 2020 NEPA Regulations also may not reflect NEPAs statutory purposes to encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between humans and the environment, promote efforts that will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere, and enhance public health and welfare. See 42 U.S.C. 4321. Some changes introduced by the 2020 NEPA
Regulations also may not support science-based decision making or be compatible with the Administrations policies to improve public health, protect the environment, prioritize environmental justice, provide access to clean air and water, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.21
To address these concerns, CEQ is engaging in a series of rulemakings to propose revisions to the 2020 NEPA
Regulations. As a preliminary step, CEQ
issued an interim final rule on June 29, 2021, amending the requirement in 40
CFR 1507.3b for agencies to propose 20 See https www.energy.gov/nepa/ceqguidance-documents for a list of current CEQ
guidance documents.
21 See E.O. 13990, supra note 15, and E.O. 14008, supra note 18.

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changes to their existing NEPA
supplemental procedures by September 14, 2021, in order to make their procedures consistent with the 2020
NEPA Regulations.22 CEQ extended the date by two years to avoid having agencies propose changes to their implementing procedures on a tight deadline to conform to a rule that is undergoing extensive review and will likely change in the near future.
CEQ intends to reconsider and revise the 2020 NEPA Regulations using a phased approach. This NPRM initiates a Phase 1 rulemaking to focus on a discrete set of provisions. In identifying what provisions to address in Phase 1, CEQ focused on the provisions that 1
pose significant near-term interpretation or implementation challenges for Federal agencies and would have the most impact to agencies NEPA
processes during the interim period before a Phase 2 rulemaking is complete; 2 make sense to revert to the 1978 regulatory approach for the reasons discussed in Part III of this preamble; and 3 CEQ is generally unlikely to propose to further revise in a Phase 2 rulemaking. Further, because CEQ recently received comments on these exact provisions through the rulemaking process for the 2020 NEPA
Regulations, CEQ has the benefit of voluminous public comments on these issues, which CEQ considered in the development of this proposed rule. In Phase 2, CEQ intends to issue a second NPRM to more broadly revisit the 2020
NEPA Regulations and propose further revisions to ensure that the NEPA
process provides for efficient and effective environmental reviews that are consistent with the statutes text and purpose; provides regulatory certainty to Federal agencies; promotes better decision making consistent with NEPAs statutory requirements; and meets environmental, climate change, and environmental justice objectives.
III. Summary of Proposed Rule As discussed in this section, CEQ
proposes three revisions to the 2020
NEPA Regulations in this Phase 1
rulemaking: 1 To eliminate language in the description of purpose and need for a proposed action when it is an agencys statutory duty to review applications for authorization 40 CFR 1502.13 and make a conforming edit to the definition of reasonable alternatives 40 CFR
1508.1z; 2 to remove limitations on agency NEPA procedures for implementing CEQs NEPA Regulations 40 CFR 1507.3; and 3 to return to the definitions of effects in the prior, 22 86

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FR 34154 June 29, 2021.

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