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National Environmental Policy Act
Plain English Summary
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has finalized new rules that change how it follows the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). These changes were made after reviewing public comments and are meant to simplify and update the USDA's regulations. Agents should be aware of these updates as they may affect compliance and environmental assessments related to USDA projects.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting the interim final rule (IFR) published on July 3, 2025, with minor changes, as final. The IFR revised departmental regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and removed various USDA agency regulations for implementing NEPA. The IFR was in response to the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) rescission of its NEPA implementing regulations (which USDA's NEPA regulations were designed to supplement), statutory changes to NEPA, executive orders, and case law. In the IFR, USDA provided a 30-day comment period for the public to review and make comments. This final rule addresses public comments and adopts as final the IFR, with certain substantive changes as explained herein.