Issue Overview

Signed into law January 1, 1970, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) established a broad national framework to protect the environment and created the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Executive Office of the President. The original goal of this piece of legislation was to ensure that each federal agency carefully considers how their decisions will impact the environment. Today, however, the regulatory reach of NEPA far outweighs its general concern for the wellbeing of our environment. It has become another tool for excessive litigation and to block or impede literally any economic or energy-related activity that may have a federal nexus. The Obama Administration’s push to force its climate agenda using NEPA as a back door regulatory tool has begun to seriously impact the future development and production of energy, electricity, transportation, forest management, agriculture and a host of other activities that are the base of the American economy.  

At the beginning of the 114^th Congress, the Committee elevated NEPA from the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources to the Full Committee.