The Biden administration on April 19 restored key regulations in the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires review of federal projects to assess their likely impacts on climate change and nearby communities. The changes to the NEPA rules will go into effect in late May, and could mean proposed infrastructure like highways, pipelines and railways take more time to get approved. — Construction Dive
This move reverses changes made by the Trump administration, which loosened the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 2020 in order to accelerate projects by shortening the time used to gather environmental information and community input.
According to Construction Dive, construction industry groups, who have long decried the NEPA process, say that the new rules will increase costs for contractors and delay projects enabled by the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. On the other hand, climate advocates and state transportation officials have welcomed the changes, claiming that they would provide certainty to infrastructure projects.
In addition, according to White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory, the return to a more rigorous environmental review will actually speed up project completion as those approved will not be as susceptible to legal challenges. The new NEPA changes grant more flexibility to federal agencies to alter their environmental review processes and consider alternatives to proposed projects. They also require agencies to evaluate the indirect and cumulative environmental impacts of the projects they review.
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