Yesterday (Sunday) the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had received an interim final rule (IFR) from the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on “Removal of National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Regulations”. This rulemaking was not listed in the Fall 2024 Unified Agenda.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 USC Chapter 55) establishes the CEQ and requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions. The CEQ has issued regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500 thru 1508) to implement the NEPA requirements.
While it is obvious that the Trump Administration would have
little use for the broad sweep of environmental regulations issued under NEPA
over the last 55 years, it staggers the imagination that it could consider
completely removing the NEPA implementing regulations in an interim final rule
without going through the whole publish and comment process. This rulemaking
will be the source of any number of law suits by environmental organizations
and a number of blue States.
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