Chair Maloy Commends Department of the Interior Reforms to NEPA Procedures

Washington, February 24, 2026 | Quinn Jenssen ((202) 738-0845)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the Department of the Interior (DOI) updated their procedures for implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Congressional Western Caucus Chair Celeste Maloy released the following statement following the announcement. 

"For far too long, burdensome regulations have slowed progress on critical projects across America. Thanks to the Trump Administration, these initiatives now have clearer requirements and a more streamlined path forward, removing unnecessary procedural obstacles that once threatened to bring them to a standstill." said Chair Celeste Maloy.

Policy Digest

The Administration of President Donald J. Trump has undertaken a significant course correction for the procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), starting with the April 2025 removal of Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations which previously implemented NEPA. In recognition of Congressional intent and recent decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States, Federal agencies have been working together to rescind and revise their NEPA procedures to focus on the process of environmental reviews rather than mandating particular results.

The Final Rule announced by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Associate Deputy Secretary Karen Budd-Falen has several significant points:
  • Rescinding the regulations and moving most of them into the Department's NEPA Handbook of Implementing Procedures creates flexible guidance for agency staff and project proponents that can more readily adjust to the specific needs of a project.
    • This flexibility can drastically reduce the time, cost, and page count of environmental reviews by allowing the agency to focus on only the concerns that apply to a specific project. 
  • By standing up a task force to update these procedures at the same time as other agencies, the NEPA process as a whole will be more consistent across the Federal government.
    • Consistency across multiple agencies will speed up review times by eliminating regulatory friction for projects which require reviews from multiple agencies.
    • These simultaneous updates may also allow for the usage of categorical exclusions from other agencies with a similar set of facts.
  • None of the changes announced today, even those to categorical exclusions, eliminate the NEPA process or the need for an environmental review when appropriate.
The Department of the Interior's press release can be found here. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) page has also been updated with additional information related to this change, here.

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