Brady PieperThe U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is announcing revisions to existing federal environmental policy that seek to standardize regulations and streamline the implementation of road, transit, energy and other key infrastructure projects.
DOT’s three new revisions, announced Monday by DOT Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, target the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and are designed to accelerate transportation, energy and infrastructure projects by aligning existing environmental requirements across agencies and removing regulatory burdens.
The overhaul responds to requirements in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which included statutory deadlines, page limits for documents and process clarifications for environmental reviews. The law sought to address concerns that federal permitting reviews were delaying infrastructure projects and inflating costs.
Building on the effort, the new revisions are structured in three main parts, with a department-wide consolidation of NEPA procedures, joint revisions for regulations used by transportation agencies and updates to the Federal Aviation Administration’s NEPA policy and implementation guidance.
DOT’s first revision will consolidate multiple sets of NEPA procedures into a single order, replacing some guidelines that were last updated in 1985, according to DOT officials. The updated department-wide order, Order 5610.1D, will also establish enforceable time limits for environmental reviews, introduce page limits and clarify that reviews are only needed for projects and activities that the federal government primarily oversees.
The second revision targets joint guidance between DOT, the Federal Highway Administration (FAA), the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Transit Administration.
Historically, the agencies have shared NEPA rules under 23 CFR Part 77 to coordinate reviews on multimodal projects. Similar to the first revision, this guidance includes statutory deadlines, page limits and clarifications for when NEPA applies while expanding categorical exclusions for routine projects with minimal impacts and introducing interagency roles in reviews involving multiple partners.
The third component will update FAA’s existing NEPA procedures under Order 1050.1F. The FAA’s update seeks to streamline environmental reviews for airports, air traffic and safety projects while maintaining requirements for impact evaluations such as noise and emissions.
The FAA announced that projects that started June 30 or afterwards will fall under the new guidance set by the DOT’s announcement, or Order 1050.1G. Existing projects that began work before June 30 will be directed under existing guidance, Order 1050.1F.
NEPA was created in 1970 and requires federal agencies to evaluate the environmental effects of government actions and projects before development. The legislation is implemented through several provisions, including the law itself, additional regulations through the federal Council on Environmental Quality and individual NEPA policies through other operating agencies.
DOT officials note these announced revisions for NEPA procedures represent the first department-wide effort to update and consolidate NEPA guidance since 1985. Though, other operating agencies responsible for prospective actions and projects, such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Highway Administration, maintain and update their NEPA procedures individually.
DOT’s department-wide approach to updating policy and regulation aligns with the department’s notice of proposed rulemaking in 2020 and with President Donald Trump’s executive orders in March, seeking to speed up environmental review processes, reduce regulatory barriers and fast-track the delivery of government projects.
Photo by Pixabay
