The measure requires environmental analyses to be done within one year and more detailed environmental impact statements to be done within two years.
The final debt ceiling measure cleared by the Senate Thursday, and signed into law Saturday, specifies only that agencies need to consider “reasonably foreseeable” environmental impacts and narrows the definition of “major federal action.” House Republicans say both would narrow the scope of NEPA reviews. House negotiators originally floated a larger permitting overhaul for the debt ceiling measure, reflecting the energy bill that the chamber passed in April. But many Republicans say the time needed to prepare the environmental analyses and impact statements unduly delays projects, delays that can lengthen if the studies are challenged in court.
Nixon, NEPA requires federal agencies to examine the environmental effects of major proposed projects. The debt ceiling measure also includes authorization of a study on transmission siting, faster permitting for energy storage projects and the approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The most substantial changes to the 1970s law known as the National Environmental Policy Act focus on how requirements for environmental reviews are implemented. The limited language addressing permitting in the agreement to raise the debt ceiling will make the largest statutory changes to environmental law in decades even though it falls far short of Republican ambitions only a few months ago.
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