What: On June 25, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a proposed rule updating the agency’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations.
Why: NEPA requires federal agencies, including the EPA, to consider the environmental effects of proposed actions as part of their decision-making processes, but it does not mandate particular results or substantive outcomes. EPA’s proposal incorporates changes to NEPA from recent federal legislation, Supreme Court decisions and executive orders, including:
- Formalizing time and page limits on NEPA reviews.
- Removing references to Council on Environmental Quality regulations that have been repealed.
- Clarifying that NEPA applies only to a proposed action and its reasonably foreseeable consequences.
- Establishing a process for developing new categorical exclusions (CE), which are the least burdensome form of environmental review. The proposal also creates a process for adopting CEs from other federal agencies.
The EPA expects that these changes could reduce the time required for proposed actions to move through the environmental review process. Shorter environmental documents could facilitate more timely reviews by decisionmakers and the public. As a result, federal projects which small businesses work on and benefit from may be completed earlier.
Action: Read the proposed rule and submit comments before the July 27, 2026, deadline.
Is your small business or entity being impacted by a proposed rule? If yes, write a comment letter to the proposing agency.