The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), in partnership with the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, has submitted a formal comment to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in response to its rescission of the baseline regulations governing federal agencies’ environmental review of major federal actions spanning infrastructure projects to grants of permits and licenses.
In response to President Donald Trump’s executive order, Unleashing American Energy, CEQ’s Interim Final Rule (IFR), which goes into effect April 11, 2025, erases the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations altogether, replacing it with 7-pages of guidance while more than 80 federal agencies replace their agency-specific regulations. The NEPA regulations, originally promulgated in 1978, remained virtually unchanged until the first Trump Administration’s sweeping revisions in 2020. These were followed by the Biden Administration’s changes in 2022 and 2024. The most recent version incorporates numerous provisions directly relevant to Tribal Nations, such as an exemption of some Tribally approved projects, consideration of effects on Tribal cultural resources, an explicit role for traditional Indigenous Knowledge, and taking government-to-government consultation into account when calculating the timeframe for environmental review. Some of these provisions were originally proposed by NCAI. You can read more about NEPA Phase 2 here.
The IFR was issued following Executive Order 14154, yet CEQ failed to engage in the required government-to-government consultation — a breach of the federal trust responsibility. The comment letter outlines multiple substantive concerns and procedural defects and calls on CEQ to reverse course, stating: “Refusal to engage in consultation disregards the progress of the federal-Tribal trust relationship over the past 57-year history of the Self-Determination and Self-Governance era of federal Indian law and policy.”
NCAI’s key recommendations for CEQ include:
- Delaying the IFR’s effective date to engage in robust government-to-government consultation with Tribal Nations about the rule’s significant tribal implications;
- Advising agencies that they are required to engage in government-to-government consultation with Tribal Nations for proposed federal actions affecting Tribal Nations;
- The creation of a centralized digital consultation portal, acknowledging how the current fragmented system burdens Tribal Nations;
- Recognition of Indigenous Knowledge’s value in conducting environmental review;
- Maintaining the requirement that agencies review potential cumulative and indirect impacts in their Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements; and
- Collaborate with Congress to make much-needed amendments to NEPA that explicitly affirm the trust responsibility and clarify CEQ’s rulemaking authority.
NCAI reaffirms its commitment to defending tribal sovereignty and environmental justice and calls upon CEQ and the Administration to fully engage with Tribal Nations per federal law, established policy, and principles of mutual respect.
