Bipartisan, bicameral NEPA CRA will provide relief to ranchers

“The Biden Administration blatantly ignored Congressional authority and took NEPA processes to new levels of inefficiency with their Phase 2 rule. This bicameral, bipartisan resolution will help prevent further weaponization of the federal rulemaking process and allow ranchers to complete critical conservation projects in a timely manner,” said Kaitlynn Glover, NCBA Executive Director of Natural Resources and PLC Executive Director. “Thank you to Representative Graves, Senator Manchin and Senator Sullivan for sending a clear message to the Administration that their efforts to stymie environmental reviews and add regulatory red tape are unacceptable.”

Background

On May 1, 2024, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published the final rule implementing new NEPA regulations, styled as “Phase 2” of the ill-advised repeal-and-replace strategy. This rule is the product of the Biden Administration’s efforts to rollback NEPA reforms the previous administration that made NEPA processes more streamlined and allowed ranchers to be able to make range improvements sooner. Congress directed CEQ to include several provisions that would streamline NEPA as part of passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) in June 2023. In this final rule, CEQ largely ignored the FRA requirements and added so much additional process that the clarity sought by the FRA is nearly unrecognizable. The final rule will be effective on July 1, 2024.