Regulatory Unraveling of the National Environmental Policy Act Framework

According to an article by the Perkins Coie firm, a significant shift has occurred in the regulatory landscape of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), marking a policy reversal that began with Executive Order 14154 on Inauguration Day. 

The White House directed the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to rescind its longstanding NEPA regulations and urged agencies to revise their procedures accordingly. Since 1978, CEQ’s regulations have served as the central framework for federal agencies to coordinate environmental reviews and provide predictability to project applicants. These now-rescinded regulations, updated in 2020, aimed to promote faster infrastructure approvals while retaining the foundational emphasis on interagency coordination.

Despite CEQ’s call for aligned updates, many agencies, including the Department of the Interior (DOI), issued interim final rules on June 30, 2025, that substantially downgraded their National Environmental Policy Act procedures from binding regulations to non-binding internal guidance. This shift severs the unified regulatory framework established over four decades and raises concerns about the legal durability of NEPA documents. Courts are generally more deferential to formal regulations than to internal guidance, which may now leave environmental reviews more vulnerable to legal challenge.

For compliance professionals, this regulatory retreat introduces considerable uncertainty. Project proponents must now navigate a fragmented landscape where environmental review procedures can vary significantly across agencies and even within individual projects. 

While intended to accelerate energy project approvals, this new approach could result in extended timelines, greater litigation risk, and diminished environmental coordination. Stakeholders are encouraged to review and comment on these interim final rules before the August 4, 2025, deadline, as the ultimate implications for NEPA implementation and infrastructure planning remain far from settled.