WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, joined Republican members of the committee in a letter to the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Chair Brenda Mallory, expressing their opposition to aspects of CEQ’s proposed rules to implement the commonsense project review reforms achieved in the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA).

Signed into law on June 3, 2023, the FRA included the most substantive amendments to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) since its enactment. Congress wrote the bipartisan reforms to simplify what has become an overcomplicated, needlessly burdensome, and seemingly endless federal environmental review process.

“Congress’s intent and direction to the CEQ and federal agencies are clear: provide more certainty and transparency for project sponsors and investors. However, in the Proposed Rule, the CEQ has acted contrary to clear congressional intent and explicit direction,” the senators wrote. “Instead, the Proposed Rule injects more uncertainty and potential legal liability into an already labyrinthine process. The Administration is trying to mask this willful misinterpretation of the law by deceptively referring to the overall proposal as the “Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule.”

The senators expressed concern over the CEQ’s Proposed Rule, arguing that it seeks to implement partisan policy priorities that undermine the bipartisan NEPA reforms in the FRA.

“The changes made in the CEQ’s Proposed Rule would collectively add more confusion, expand the scope of the NEPA process, extend its length, open the door to even more lawsuits and accusations of political favoritism that will delay or stop projects while undermining public and stakeholder confidence. All those outcomes are directly contrary to the bipartisan congressional intent of the FRA,” the senators continued.

“The only types of projects that may see some process efficiencies from the Proposed Rule are the projects that currently have the backing of the Biden Administration. This troubling precedent paves the way for future administrations of either party to similarly avail their prioritized projects at the expense of others,” the senators concluded. “We urge the CEQ to correct course and engage in a rulemaking process that implements the FRA and adheres to the clear direction Congress gave to make the NEPA process more efficient for all types of projects.”

Click here to read the letter.