A swath of federal agencies — from the Department of the Interior to the U.S. Air Force and Department of Energy — have sidestepped the usual rulemaking process, implementing sweeping changes to a cornerstone law that required them to consider potential environmental consequences before approving major projects.
The law is called the National Environmental Policy Act — or NEPA — and it kicks in when a project involves “substantial federal involvement,” like using federal funding, permits, or property.
“The National Environmental Policy Act fundamentally levels the playing field for people who otherwise lack power and the ability to influence the decisions that affect their lives or affect the places that they love,” said Eric Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center.
Historically, NEPA had a “referee” of sorts called the Council on Environmental Quality, which used to oversee how federal agencies implement the law.
But, with a stroke of a pen shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump quickly rescinded this rulemaking authority with an Executive Order. By April, those government-wide rules were largely gone.
In short, that’s given the power to individual agencies to write their own guidance, which have just been published.
Now, this coordinated effort shifts public-facing NEPA compliance into internal agency guidance, opening the door to varying interpretations of environmental impact and placing greater emphasis on speeding up project approvals. Republican lawmakers and officials have longstanding complaints about delays prompted by NEPA, arguing it hurts economic development.
In a press release announcing the specific NEPA changes, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins claimed the environmental law kills jobs and raises prices for Americans.
“So many beneficial and common-sense infrastructure and energy projects have been stymied and delayed in litigation and endless reviews,” Secretary Rollins wrote. “Overregulation has morphed the NEPA process into bureaucratic overreach on American innovation.”
But Schlenker-Goodrich argued this move hurts transparency, weakens legal recourse, and inhibits public input.
“These new NEPA rules and guidance ignore climate change and the implications to people and communities and public lands and watersheds in New Mexico. That has a risk of exacerbating the consequences of climate change, of drought and the risk of catastrophic wildfire,” Schlenker-Goodrich said.
That could mean faster approvals for pipelines, drilling, military expansions, mining, and transmission lines in New Mexico – such as a controversial 115 kV power line slated for construction over the Caja del Rio just outside of Santa Fe.
The National Nuclear Security Administration told KUNM last year that the transmission line is for providing an uptick in consistent power to Los Alamos National Laboratory, and for “maintaining” and “enhancing” the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.
The project has been in the works for years, and is still currently snaking its way through the NEPA review process.
All the agencies cite a 2025 Supreme Court ruling that stripped NEPA of any “substantive” power to stop or delay federal projects – suggesting agencies only consider disclosing environmental impacts, not avoiding or reducing them. The ruling also gives deference to an individual agency’s policy judgments.
In addition to cutting bureaucratic red tape, the changes are also designed to prevent NEPA delays from activist groups, according to the newly published guidelines.
The rules go into immediate legal effect without public input or discussion, though the federal government is welcoming the public to comment on the final interim rules for the next 30 days.
You can review and comment on specific NEPA changes from each agency at the links below.
