National Environmental Policy Act NEPA

Richard Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act on January 1, 1970, as his first official act of the year. It does not forbid any project. Instead, it requires federal agencies to consider the environmental effects of major actions, from highways and pipelines to logging plans and permits, and to inform the public. For projects with significant effects, agencies prepare a detailed environmental impact statement and consider alternatives, and the law created the Council on Environmental Quality in the White House.

Most federal actions are handled through shorter environmental assessments or categorical exclusions, but large projects can take years to review, and lawsuits claiming an inadequate review are a common way to challenge them. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 set page limits and deadlines of two years for impact statements. In 2025, after a federal appeals court questioned its authority, the Council on Environmental Quality withdrew its long-standing NEPA regulations and agencies wrote their own procedures.

On May 29, 2025, in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, the Supreme Court told courts to defer to agencies on the scope of their reviews and said agencies need not study the effects of separate upstream or downstream projects. Supporters of faster permitting, including many clean energy and infrastructure advocates, say NEPA reviews delay important projects and drive up costs. Defenders say the law gives communities a voice and prevents careless decisions, and that funding and staffing shortages cause many delays.