^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

CEQ Calls for Innovative NEPA Pilot Project Proposals
On March 23, 2011, the Council on Environmental Quality published Federal Register notice inviting the public and federal agencies to nominate innovative pilot projects that accomplish the NEPA goals of transparency and informed decisionmaking in a more timely and effective manner. Nominations will be accepted via online submission until June 15, 2011.

In consultation with a panel of agency NEPA experts, CEQ will select up to five nominated pilot projects for further study and trial implementation, based on their potential to: (1) Reduce the costs and/or time needed to complete the NEPA process; (2) ensure environmental protection; (3) improve the quality and transparency of Federal agency decision-making; and (4) yield replicable best practices or procedural innovations that can be replicated by other agencies or applied to other Federal actions or programs so as to improve NEPA implementation beyond a specific project. CEQ will coordinate with relevant agencies to track project implementation for the purpose of evaluating and publicizing the efficiencies realized. These outcomes will be published on the CEQ Web site and on the NEPA Web site, nepa.gov. Where appropriate, CEQ will advocate that agencies incorporate these best practices into new or revised NEPA procedures.

The NEPA Pilot Project Program is part of CEQ's broad effort to modernize and reinvigorate federal agency implementation of NEPA through innovation, public engagement, and transparency. The NEPA Pilot Program will also facilitate a review under section 6 of Executive Order 13563, "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' of provisions of CEQ's NEPA Regulations that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome.