Administration Reportedly Ignores Congress, Further Muddies Permitting Process with NEPA Missteps

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Mining Association (NMA) issued the following comment from Rich Nolan, president and CEO, on news reports concerning the Council on Environmental Quality's expected new rule, "National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Regulations Revisions Phase 2." According to details in the news, the rule unwisely contradicts the congressionally-enacted and Biden administration-signed Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 provisions addressing NEPA inefficiencies, reverses improvements made under the prior administration, impermissibly expands the scope of NEPA and oversteps by compelling mitigation, among other intractable flaws that will sow confusion throughout the permitting process.

Nolan said, "If reports hold true, in this rule, the administration has succeeded only in further complicating the permitting process, increasing the financial burden on project sponsors, compounding the potential for litigation delays on projects, ultimately delaying or even halting projects that are valuable to our economic and national security."

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