Rolling back NEPA puts clean energy progress—and public trust—at risk

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) warns that the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of the Interior (DOI), and Department of Agriculture (USDA) have issued nonbinding procedural guidance that replaces binding NEPA regulations. CATF asserts that these changes create project uncertainty for developers and communities by making requirements readily changeable without public input. Key concerns include the removal of requirements for draft environmental reviews, the weakening of safeguards for categorical exclusions, and the elimination of mandates to analyze environmental justice and cumulative effects. CATF argues that these rollbacks will increase the risk of litigation and community backlash, thereby slowing the deployment of clean energy infrastructure rather than accelerating it.

• The Department of Energy (DOE), Department of the Interior (DOI), and Department of Agriculture (USDA) have replaced binding regulations with nonbinding procedural guidance that can be modified or deleted without public or Tribal government input, creating uncertainty for project sponsors and community members.
• New agency procedures weaken public participation by making the provision of draft environmental reviews for public comment optional rather than required, which CATF claims reduces the quality of reviews and limits transparency.
• The updated procedures reduce safeguards for categorical exclusions by allowing them to be established or revised without notice and comment periods and by removing protections that prevent their use in 'extraordinary circumstances' involving climate-related effects or environmental justice.
• Scientific and technical analysis is weakened by the removal of requirements to consider environmental justice and the elimination of the requirement to analyze 'cumulative effects,' which are described as essential for assessing climate change impacts.

APA

Landau, K. (2025). Rolling back NEPA puts clean energy progress—and public trust—at risk. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2025/08/rolling-back-nepa-puts-clean-energy-progress-and-public-trust-at-risk/

Chicago

Landau, Kelsey. Rolling back NEPA puts clean energy progress—and public trust—at risk. Clean Air Task Force, 2025. https://www.catf.us/2025/08/rolling-back-nepa-puts-clean-energy-progress-and-public-trust-at-risk/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Landau |first1=Kelsey |title=Rolling back NEPA puts clean energy progress—and public trust—at risk |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=20 August 2025 |url=https://www.catf.us/2025/08/rolling-back-nepa-puts-clean-energy-progress-and-public-trust-at-risk/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{landau2025rolling, author = {Landau, Kelsey}, title = {{Rolling back NEPA puts clean energy progress—and public trust—at risk}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = aug, url = {https://www.catf.us/2025/08/rolling-back-nepa-puts-clean-energy-progress-and-public-trust-at-risk/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }