CEQ’s previous regulations required EISs to address “all reasonable … STATEMENT OF 1978. The law was enacted on January 1, 1970. 40 CFR 1502.7 already provides that “the text of … Further, for projects in progress, agencies may continue using their existing NEPA procedures and CEQ’s 1978 regulations, but they should indicate so to interested and affected parties. On September 14, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality’s new NEPA regulations—the first significant changes to the regulations since they were promulgated in 1978—go into effect. In 1978, CEQ issued regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) to implement NEPA. Programmatic NEPA reviews add value and efficiency to the decision-making process when they inform the scope of decisions and subsequent tiered NEPA reviews. regulations were codified in 1978, with no substantial modification since. Original/black text = 1978 regulations Redline = final rule (green text reflects moved language and red reflects new language) CEQ has not comprehensively updated its regulations since their promulgation in 1978, more than four decades ago. Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (archived) January 23, 2018. Section 102(2) contains “action-forcing” provi- Among other things, the 1978 regulations required extensive consideration of the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of agency actions and provided opportunities for robust public participation. These procedures were initially promulgated in 1971 as guidelines, and were then issued as regulations in 1978. They include: (a) Actions (other than unconnected single actions) which may be: Over the years, Congress has expanded on the authority of federal transportation agencies to exempt categories of actions from NEPA reviews. See also, S. Deutsch, The National Environmental Policy Act's First Five Years, 4 ENV. Further, since 1978, the NEPA regulations authorized federal agencies to adopt counterpart regulations that define classes of actions that are exempt from NEPA. In July 2020, CEQ updated its NEPA regulations. In 1978, with extensive public input, CEQ emphasized NEPA’s role as “our basic national charter for protection of the environment.” NEPA and CEQ’s 1978 regulations and subsequent guidance have promoted more environmentally protective and transparent agency decisions, while not imposing overly burdensome requirements. Monday, July 27, 2020. September 18, 2020 at 9AM PDT, 10AM MDT, 11AM CDT, and Noon EDT. WS developed this EA (USDA 2017) under the 1978 NEPA regulations and existing APHIS NEPA implementing procedures. Lastly, CEQ should update their 1978 NEPA regulations. 40 CFR 1501.1 - Purpose. The ANPRM sought feedback on 20 broad questions related to the NEPA … On June 20, 2018, CEQ issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) regarding NEPA’s implementing regulations. C hange can be hard, but often necessary. The Final Rule marks the first comprehensive revision of CEQ’s NEPA regulations since the original regulations were promulgated in 1978, and it is intended to focus the NEPA review to serve its purpose of informing decision-makers and the public. Unit 2: Key Changes from the 1978 Version of the Regulations. However, an EIS must be prepared by the agency or a contractor selected by the agency upon a showing of no financial interest in the outcome of the agency decision. In many situations in which an EA is prepared, a Finding of No Significant Impact (“FONSI”) is issued that imposes mitigation measures and concludes that, with the implementation of the mitigation measures, the project will not result in a significant environmental impact and therefore does not warrant the preparation of an EIS. The CEQ issued revised regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, effective September 14, 2020. These regulations are binding on all federal agencies. CEQ promulgated its “Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act” (CEQ's NEPA regulations) at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508. In January 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to modernize and clarify the regulations of NEPA to facilitate a more efficient, effective, and timely NEPA review process. Prior to the Trump administration’s reforms being finalized in July 2020, the CEQ had not comprehensively updated the regulations since their promulgation in 1978. Reg. NEPA, which became law in 1970, mandates that agencies analyze the environmental impacts of all of their environmentally significant actions before carrying them out. • Use CEs to reduce paperwork (1500.4) • Use CEs to reduce delay (1500.5) • Agency NEPA procedures need to define CE criteria and identify typical classes of action for CEs (1507.3) • CE definition (1508.4) • CEs mentioned once under Supplementary Information On July 9, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) announced the final rule updating regulations for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), marking the first comprehensive update of the regulations since 1978. of the National Environmental Policy Act. CEQ NEPA Regulations. CEQ is responsible for developing procedures for Federal agency implementation of NEPA. These procedures were initially promulgated in 1971 as guidelines, and were then issued as regulations in 1978. NEPA regulations in 1978, and those regulations remained largely unchanged until 2020. 13 Exec. § 4332. The 1978 regulations required federal agencies to cooperate with state and local agencies “to the fullest extent possible to reduce duplication between NEPA … While this reiterates the 1978 regulations’ requirement that agencies establish CEs in their NEPA procedures, it is unclear if this is intended to modify prior CEQ guidance encouraging agencies to develop procedures to allow projects which, on their face, have no significant impacts to be treated with a CE, even if they were not identified specifically in an agency’s existing list of CEs. The 1978 regulations required federal agencies to cooperate with state and local agencies “to the fullest extent possible to reduce duplication between NEPA and state and local requirements,” including through joint planning, hearings, environmental assessment and impact statements. The Revised CEQ NEPA Regulations that went into effect on September 14, 2020 made substantial changes to the definition of impacts/effects and to how significance is determined in agency NEPA analyses from the previous 1978 version of the regulations. NEPA applies to CEQ, states say At a fundamental legal level, the state attorneys general say CEQ and its final rule are subject to NEPA and the Administrative Procedure Act, … 1978-02-21 Regulations (proposed): 10 CFR Part 1021. For a variety of reasons, NEPA documents became longer and more expensive, while preparation timelines increased. Nick Yost, NEPA at 50 , The Environmental Forum, Nov-Dec 2019, at 26 (providing an inside look at the original 1978 regulations). 40 C.F.R. On September 14, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality’s (“CEQ”) Final Rule overhauling its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) became effective. In 1978, CEQ issued regulations ( 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 ) to implement NEPA. These regulations are binding on all federal agencies. The regulations address the procedural provisions of NEPA and the administration of the NEPA process, including the preparation of environmental impact statements. 10 See infra Section B for discussion of cumulative impacts. While the 1978 CEQ NEPA regulations described the three levels of potential review, they did not clearly set out the process for determining what level of review is appropriate for a given action. The Final Rule changes that by adding 40 C.F.R. § 1501.3. - Environmental Assessments: 1 year and 75 pages - Environmental Impact Statements: 2 years and 150-300 pages According to the CEQ, one-page equals 500 words, excluding graphics. Limits on Alternatives Analysis. 1506.1(c) (1978) (emphasis added); the new regulations … Compliance with the National Environmental Policy … For NEPA reviews in process, agencies may proceed with the 1978 regulations or the new 2020 regulations. § 1506.2. The regulations address the procedural provisions of NEPA and the administration of the NEPA process, including the preparation of environmental impact statements. Court decisions, guidance documents, manuals, and countless books have applied the regulations in developing a large body of administrative law and practice. When the president’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) produced its Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (CEQ NEPA Regulations) in 1978, those regulations were sufficiently comprehensive and of such high quality that they have received hardly any amendment or modification since 1978. NEPA Rules Rewrite: Revised NEPA Regulations Designed to Influence Litigation. CEQ managed to complete this historic rulemaking on which it received over a million … A 1978 NEPA regulation required agencies to address uncertainties with worst-case analyses. The CEQ, a division of the Executive Office of the President, is charged with overseeing implementation of NEPA CEQ first promulgated regulations implementing NEPA in 1978. For the first time since 1978, the Council on Environmental Quality has overhauled regulations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).The objective: to simplify and accelerate the environmental review process for proposed federal projects. The SCS rule adopts the CEQ Original Regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) Notice of Final Rulemaking (November 29, 1978) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (June 9, 1978) EO 11514 (as amended): Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality (as amended by EO 11911; May 24, 1977) directed CEQ to issue regulations; NEPA Guidelines (replaced by regulations) NEPA Success Stories: Celebrating … regulations made to the 1978 regulations. The CEQ NEPA regulations influenced a transition from environmental impact statements (EIS) to categorical exclusions (CATEX), with 95% to 98% of actions currently qualifying for categorical exclusions. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issues this final rule to update its regulations for Federal agencies to implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA, signed into law in 1970, is a procedural statute that requires Federal agencies to assess the potential environmental impacts of proposed major Federal actions. Unit 3: Guidance and discussion on suggested approaches to Implement the New Regulations from a NEPA Practitioners Perspective. The scope of an individual statement may depend on its relationships to other statements ( §§ 1502.20 and 1508.28). interpretation of NEPA, “transforming advisory guidelines into regulations applicable to all federal agencies.” Andrus v. Sierra Club, 442 U.S. 347, 358 (1979). CEQ is responsible for developing procedures for Federal agency implementation of NEPA. This change removes federal loan guarantees from the NEPA process. For NEPA reviews initiated after September 14, 2020, agencies should use the 2020 regulations unless there is a “clear and fundamental conflict.” There will be surprises as agencies start implementing the new NEPA rule. For NEPA reviews initiated after September 14, 2020, agencies should use the 2020 regulations unless there is a 'clear and fundamental conflict.' The EPA filing system was created to provide an official log and public announcement of EISs received by EPA and to guarantee that the requirements of NEPA and the CEQ Regulations are satisfied. SOURCE: 43 FR 55990, Nov. 28, 1978, unless otherwise noted. The CEQ NEPA regulations influenced a transition from environmental impact statements (EIS) to categorical exclusions (CATEX), with 95% to 98% of actions currently qualifying for categorical exclusions. CEQ issued regulations for Federal agencies to implement NEPA in 1978. After it generated significant controversy, 7. that regulation was amended in 1986 to rescind the worst-case requirement, and replaced with a more flexible mandate that agencies must discuss the … Court decisions, guidance documents, manuals, and countless books have applied the regulations in developing a large body of administrative law and practice. The regulations would accomplish three principal aims: to reduce paper-work, to reduce delays, and to produce better decisions. March 29, 1978. On July 16, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) … On appeal, this exemption was also the issue of whether CEQ has the statutory authority to revise the NEPA regulations. On September 14, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality’s new NEPA regulations—the first significant changes to the regulations since they were promulgated in 1978—go into effect. CEQ issued regulations for Federal agencies to implement NEPA in 1978. The New NEPA Regulations: Long Overdue Update or Radical Sea Change. 1978 version, as amended, of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 40 CFR parts 1500–1508. 55,978 (Nov. 23, 1978) [hereinafter “1978 Rule”]. Section 102 of NEPA establishes procedural requirements, applying that national policy to proposals for major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment by requiring Federal agencies to prepare a detailed statement on: (1) the environmental impact of the proposed action; (2) any adverse effects that cannot be avoided; (3) alternatives to the proposed action; (4) the relationship … 1 The 1978 CEQ regulations required an EIS when a proposed action “may significantly affect the quality of the human environment” 40 C.F.R. Rulemaking ( ANPRM ) regarding NEPA ’ s revised Rules amend 40 C.F.R CEQ comprehensively updated in,. 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