The CEQ NEPA Regulations

This chapter provides a review of the CEQ NEPA Regulations including changes introduced by the Biden and former Trump administrations, their history, the environmental impact statement (EIS) requirement, and energy requirements, which are an overlooked substantive part of the regulations. The CEQ NEPA Regulations of 1978 have been revised four times: 1986 by the former Carter Administration, 2020 by the former Trump Administration, and in 2022 and 2023 by the current Biden Administration. The Biden Administration’s Phase 1 and Phase2 CEQ NEPA Regulations revisions have restored much of the intent of the NEPA statute as well as the 1978 regulations. Quoting from the preface to the second edition, “The terms CEQ NEPA Regulations, CEQ Regulations, NEPA Regulations, and Regulations are all synonymous for purposes of this book.”