backThe Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued new guidance and an accompanying template for agency National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review procedures on September 29, 2025, marking the latest in a long line of NEPA-focused actions by the Trump Administration. With this new guidance in hand, agencies are directed – pending resolution of the ongoing federal government shutdown – to undertake a review of their NEPA procedures under CEQ’s oversight. CEQ will be looking for agencies to limit their NEPA reviews, rely more heavily on sponsor-prepared documents, and streamline the NEPA process.
Background
The last two years have seen sweeping shifts across all three branches of government that now shape how federal agencies will implement NEPA.
First, the Executive. On Day One, President Trump issued Executive Order 14154, Unleashing American Energy, directing agencies to streamline energy and infrastructure permit approvals and directing CEQ to provide near-term guidance to agencies on NEPA implementation with a focus on expediting project reviews. By February, CEQ issued guidance that agencies “must prioritize efficiency and certainty over any other policy objective” that could delay the permitting process. By April, CEQ rescinded its existing NEPA implementing regulations.
Second, Congress. Congress has had varying success in updating NEPA. In 2023, Congress enacted the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Among other things, the Act codified core process features and boundaries, including the three familiar levels of review (categorical exclusions, environmental assessments, and environmental impact statements), clarified when NEPA does not apply, set page limits and deadlines for environmental reviews, and added definitions of key terms. More recently, efforts to revive the REPAIR Act – which would have curtailed challenges to NEPA reviews under the Administrative Procedure Act – were unsuccessful. However, the One Big Beautiful Bill, signed July 4, 2025, updated NEPA to allow project sponsors to pay a fee to obtain shortened NEPA review deadlines.
Third, the Courts. The Supreme Court’s decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County in May 2025 reshaped the NEPA legal landscape. Emphasizing that NEPA is a “purely procedural statute,” the Court directed lower courts to accord “substantial deference” to reasonable agency judgments regarding the scope and level of NEPA analysis, especially as to indirect effects and issues beyond an agency’s statutory remit. The Court also highlighted congressionally imposed page limits and deadlines, underscoring that NEPA should not function as an open-ended impediment to decision-making.
What’s New: Non-Binding Guidance and Model Template for Agency Procedures
On September 29, 2025, CEQ released a memorandum with a clear goal – to “Streamline NEPA Reviews.” This non-binding guidance includes an “Agency NEPA Procedures Template,” and encourages agency use of this template when adopting or revising their NEPA procedures. For agencies, the message is clear – move quickly to align agency procedures with the deference outlined in Seven County and the Administration’s focus on accelerating project reviews.
CEQ’s latest guidance directs agencies to revise their NEPA procedures in consultation with CEQ, consistent with NEPA § 102(2)(B), the 2023 and 2025 statutory amendments, and Seven County. CEQ anticipates completion of initial review of proposals within 30 days of submission in advance of any interagency or public rulemaking process. After review, agencies are directed to proceed through either rulemaking or non-regulatory means (e.g., handbooks or orders) that can be updated more easily. CEQ leans heavily on the Executive Orders and Seven County, emphasizing repeatedly that “NEPA is a purely procedural statute” and that NEPA does not require analyses of “environmental effects from other projects separate in time, or separate in place, or that fall outside of the agency’s regulatory authority, or that would have to be initiated by a third party.”
The Appendix 1 Template provides insight for project proponents on what they may encounter in future NEPA reviews, and it provides updated (in some instances reintroduced) standards, including:
- Defining “Effects” to exclude a “but for” test as a sufficient basis for agency review and to require a “reasonably close causal relationship to the proposed action or alternatives.”
- Defining “Mitigation” without reference to enforceable or mandatory measures or prioritization amongst the possible mitigation considerations.
- Defining “Purpose and Need,” in the context of an application for authorization, to be informed by the goals of the applicant.
- Shifting the language of Scoping from identifying important and unimportant issues to identifying substantive and non-substantive issues.
- Omitting any mention of environmental justice or climate change.
- Adding a section titled “Procedures for Project Sponsor-Prepared NEPA documents.”
Implications
The new CEQ guidance and template are likely to be challenged but, for project sponsors, the guidance underscores the Administration’s focus on streamlining analyses and relying on categorial exclusions and sponsor-prepared documents. Agencies may begin implementing the guidance’s agency review provisions, subject to funding limitations, regardless of whether litigation unfolds. Project sponsors should plan to take advantage of opportunities to weigh in on rulemaking related to agency NEPA processes and consider increased coordination with agencies as projects are reviewed.