The rule adds requirements to an already complicated permitting process and ignores permitting reforms previously passed by Congress.
On Tuesday, June 18, Senators Joe Manchin (D–W.Va.), Dan Sullivan (R–Alaska) and Congressman Garret Graves (R–La.) introduced an AGC-supported Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to nullify the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ’s) final rule, “National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing Regulations Revisions Phase 2”.
You may recall, AGC previously reported on this rule when it was released in May. The NEPA Phase 2 rule elevates climate and community impacts—requiring extensive review of effects, alternatives analysis, and mitigation on top of an already protracted process. Through this dual lens, the administration will direct and decide which projects deserve to move forward.
Even if the measure passes both chambers it is likely that the White House would veto it. CRA votes are still significant, even if the resolution is vetoed, as courts in the past have cited the CRA votes as evidence that Congress agrees.