Search Results
Use the filters on the left-hand side of this screen to refine the results further by topic or document type.

Amending the NEPA Regulations

The Joe Biden Administration has proposed reversing a number of the Donald Trump Administration’s changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations by again requiring federal agencies to evaluate the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of projects under environmental review. On April 20, 2022, the first phase of those amendments was finalized, and on April 21, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts to explore the changes to NEPA implementation, and how they might impact climate change policy and environmental justice.

87 FR 38639

The Rural Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and Rural Utilities Service updated the definition of "Rural area" for every Rural Development program using the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act definition to conform to the revision to the statutory definition in the 2018 Farm Bill.

87 FR 36487

EPA and the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission announced and seek comment on a draft programmatic EIS for the proposed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Mitigation of Contaminated Transboundary Flows Project. 

87 FR 35976

DOE and DOT established the Electric Vehicle Working Group to make recommendations regarding the development, adoption, and integration of electric vehicles into U.S. transportation and energy systems. 

87 FR 34234

The Forest Service seeks comment on the framework, focus, and direction of its wildfire crisis implementation plan associated with the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and specific provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 

87 FR 29849

The Natural Resources Conservation Service announced it intends to issue a series of revised conservation practice standards in the National Handbook of Conservation Practices. 

30 by 30, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, and Tribal Cultural Lands

President Joe Biden’s Executive Order No. 14008 of January 2021 called for the Administration to conserve at least 30% of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030. To accomplish this ambitious “30 by 30” effort, the Order directed federal agencies to work with tribal governments, among others, to propose lands and waters as qualifying for conservation. This Comment examines "areas of critical environmental concern" and their potential role in the 30 by 30 program, particularly their potential to enlist tribal governments in helping to manage lands of tribal cultural significance. 

87 FR 24851

The president issued Executive Order No. 14072, Strengthening the Nation's Forests, Communities, and Local Economies; among other things, the order directs federal agencies to inventory old-growth and mature forests on federal lands and develop policies to protect them from threats like wildfire and climate change, and to develop a federal goal for meeting agency-specific reforestation targets by 2030.

Federal Grazing Lands as “Conservation Lands” in the 30 by 30 Program

On January 28, 2021, President Joseph Biden issued Executive Order No. 14008 initiating the “30 by 30” program to “conserve” 30% of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030, but to date, the Administration has yet to clarify the standards defining "conservation" lands. In September 2021, Nada Culver, the acting director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Chris French, the deputy chief of the Forest Service’s National Forest System (NFS) confirmed at an annual Public Lands Council meeting that they believe the nation’s grazing lands “should [be] include[d]” in the 30 by 30 count.