Supreme Court Weighs in on NEPA's Scope and Environmental Reviews

On March 10, 2020, NAEP submitted comments to the Council on Environmental Quality on CEQ’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking revising its regulations for implementing the procedural requirements of NEPA. The proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on January 10, 2020, and the comment period closed on March 10. These comments include contributions from several NAEP members and were discussed during the February 19 meeting of the NEPA Practice.

Read NAEP's Comments

Read the Proposed Rulemaking

On July 30, 2019, NAEP submitted comments to the Council on Environmental Quality on CEQ's Draft National Environmental Policy Act Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The guidance, once finalized, is intended to replace the 2016 final guidance that was withdrawn in early 2017.

This survey asks about how categorical exclusions (CATEX/CEs) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are applied. While CEs are not methodically tracked, they are widely used and an important part of overall NEPA compliance. The survey does not address how agencies develop CEs but how established CEs are used.

The National Association of Environmental Professionals’ (NAEP’s) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Practice (formerly known as the NEPA Working Group) is pleased to present our tenth NEPA Annual Report. This report contains summaries of the latest developments in NEPA as well as the NEPA Practice’s efforts for the past year. This annual report is prepared and published through the initiative and volunteer efforts of members of the NAEP’s NEPA Practice. The 2017 NEPA Annual Report includes:

1. Introduction
2. The NEPA Practice in 2017
3. Just the Stats on 2017 EISs filed with the U.S. EPA
4. Preparation Times for Environmental Impact Statements Made Available in 2017
5. Recent Congressional Legislation Regarding NEPA
6. 2017 NEPA Cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeal and Cumulative Impacts Cases

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NAEP has left several comments and questions in relation to the Bureau of Reclamation's categorical exclusions proposal.

Read the Full Response

Read NAEP's comments on the Council on Environmental Quality's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on updating CEQ's regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Read NAEP's Comments

Read NAEP's response to Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Expanding Incentives for Voluntary Conservation Actions Under the Endangered Species Act.

Read the Response

On November 29, 2017, the US House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on "Modernizing NEPA for the 21st Century." Video of the hearing, the hearing memo, and information about the witnesses is available on the Natural Resources website.

Read NAEP's Response