This memorandum, issued by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on February 19, 2025, provides guidance to federal agencies on implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in light of Executive Order (E.O.) 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” and amendments to NEPA in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA).
The guidance emphasizes expediting and simplifying the permitting process, prioritizing efficiency and certainty, and adhering to deadlines established in the FRA. Agencies are instructed to revise their NEPA implementing procedures within 12 months, consulting with CEQ and submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.
Key points include:
- Agencies should continue current NEPA practices while revisions are underway, adjusting as needed to align with the FRA.
- CEQ rescinds its NEPA implementing regulations but suggests agencies may voluntarily rely on them for ongoing reviews.
- Congress amended NEPA in the FRA, clarifying requirements for environmental impact statements (EISs), establishing new sections related to categorical exclusions (CEs), environmental assessments (EAs), lead agencies, and programmatic environmental documents.
- Agencies must analyze “reasonably foreseeable” environmental effects, not employing the term “cumulative effects.”
- Proposed agency actions with “no or minimal Federal funding” may not be considered “major Federal actions.”
- NEPA documents should not include an environmental justice analysis, to the extent that this approach is consistent with other applicable law.
- Agency implementing procedures should delineate decision points, identify activities not subject to NEPA, include criteria for CEs, EAs, and EISs, and establish protocols for public involvement and interagency cooperation.
- CEQ will host monthly meetings for federal agency NEPA contacts and the NEPA Implementation Working Group to provide ongoing assistance.