Today, the Obama Administration’s White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a sweeping and controversial National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidance on greenhouse gas emissions.  House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement:

“There they go again, more ‘voluntary’ guidelines that must be obeyed by all. Finding the practical and legal basis for this guidance deserves a Gold Medal for mental gymnastics. This will result in significant new litigation exposure that will slow or block most every major activity requiring NEPA approval. When any emissions equals bad and bad equals denied, you can kiss energy independence goodbye.”

Background:

Designed as a regulatory compliance framework for projects or actions requiring a federal permit, NEPA has become a magnate for litigation resulting in costly, time-consuming and burdensome project reviews for a range of economic activities.

The Committee on Natural Resources is pursuing extensive oversight of NEPA and the Obama Administration’s abuse, selective application and outright circumvention of the statute.  

On June 22, 2016, the Committee held an oversight hearing on “Investigating the Appropriate Role of NEPA in the Permitting Process.” Click here.  

On July 22, 2015, the Committee held an oversight hearing on “An Analysis of the Obama Administration’s Social Cost of Carbon.” Click here.

On May 13, 2015, the Committee held an oversight hearing on "The Administration’s CEQ Recently Revised Draft Guidance for GHG Emissions and the Effects of Climate Change.” Click here.

At the beginning of the 114^th Congress, Chairman Bishop elevated NEPA to the Full Committee.