Action Alert! Stand up for the public’s right to transparency and participation!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) is rushing through major changes to environmental review procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) that impact how public lands, national forests, and communities are protected. These changes bypass the normal rule-making process, threaten environmental safeguards, and reduce transparency and public participation.

The Trump Administration’s proposed changes will make people and communities less safe, and will strip meaningful public input– even from decisions that directly impact communities. NEPA ensures transparency and opportunities for public participation on decisions that affect federal public lands or include federal funding– this includes a wide array of actions ranging from resource extraction such as mining, drilling, and logging on public lands to the storage and handling of nuclear waste.

Please speak up to defend the public’s right to transparency and participation on federal actions. The deadline for submitting comments is August 4th at 9pm PST (midnight EST). You can submit comments on this online portal: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/USDA-2025-0008-0001

We also urge you to contact your elected representatives and implore them to stand against the weakening of the National Environmental Policy Act– or any rollbacks of environmental protections. You can find your congressional representative here: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

The Trump Administration is using an inadequate process to rush the gutting of these key protections:

For nearly 50 years, the Council on Environmental Quality’s (“CEQ”) NEPA regulations have guided agencies, Tribes, local governments, and the public in the development and analysis of federal actions affecting the environment.

The USDA is now implementing sweeping changes through the inappropriate use of an interim final rule with only a 30-day comment period, skipping the required notice-and-comment rulemaking process.

The rule goes into effect before the comment period ends, which undermines public engagement.

• Tell the USDA: Stakeholders deserve more time and resources to analyze the proposed rule and offer meaningful input!

Regulatory Uncertainty:

The USDA is developing these regulations in response to President Trump’s Executive Order 14154 in order to “prioritize efficiency and certainty over any other objectives.”

Without CEQ regulations as a foundation, the Forest Service and other federal agencies must independently develop their own NEPA regulations.

This creates an inconsistent and inefficient web of agency-specific regulations and processes, increasing uncertainty in the environmental analysis process.

These newly developed agency-specific rules will be vulnerable to legal challenges, resulting in further delays and confusion.

• Tell the USDA: The only certain result of these new regulations is uncertainty!

Inconsistency with Purpose of NEPA:

NEPA requires an accurate description of the existing environment; an assessment of proposed actions, including indirect and cumulative effects; the consideration of reasonable alternative actions; and the timely disclosure of analyses along with the chance for meaningful public comment.

• Tell the USDA: The regulations must uphold these core NEPA principles to comply with the statute’s intent!

Public Participation:

NEPA is grounded in government transparency and public engagement. The USDA must ensure the public is fully informed—and that public input is meaningfully considered—in the processes created by these regulations.

• Tell the USDA: You demand full transparency and robust public participation in decision-making!

Environmental Justice and Climate Change:

NEPA requires analysis of environmental justice and climate impacts. Simply omitting these terms from regulations does not remove the legal obligation created by the statute to consider them.

These issues are fundamental to NEPA’s purpose: “to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare” of people. 42 U.S.C. § 4321.

• Tell the USDA: You want full consideration of environmental justice and climate impacts in every NEPA analysis!

Cumulative Effects:

USDA and the Forest Service cannot disregard cumulative effects, as suggested by CEQ’s guidance. Courts and NEPA itself require analysis of “reasonably foreseeable environmental effects.” 42 U.S.C. §4223(2)(C)

Ignoring cumulative impacts violates longstanding legal precedent and statutory mandates.

• Tell the USDA: A full environmental analysis under NEPA requires consideration of cumulative effects!