• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

Indiana University Indiana University IU

Open Search
  • Who We Are
    • Leadership
    • Advisory Boards
    • Researchers
    • Staff
    • Mission and Vision
  • Who We Work With
    • Local Governments
      • ERI Toolkit
      • Hoosier Resilience Index
      • Webinars
      • Resilience Cohort
    • Educators
    • Residents
      • Hoosier Resilience Heroes
    • Researchers
    • Careers
  • Research
    • Wildlife Migration
    • Pests and Invasive Species
    • Climate and Water Systems
    • Forests and Green Infrastructure
    • Human Impacts and Attitudes
    • Communication, Education, and Outreach
    • ERI Data Resources
  • Tools & Resources
    • Environmental Resilience Institute Toolkit (ERIT)
    • Hoosier Resilience Index
    • Hoosier Life Survey Opinion Map
    • Renewable Energy Development
    • ERI Data Resources
    • Fact Sheets
    • ERI Explainer
    • Webinars
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • Newsletters
  • Support Our Work
  • Contact
  • Donate

Environmental Resilience Institute
Part of the Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge

  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Leadership
    • Advisory Boards
    • Researchers
    • Staff
    • Mission and Vision
  • Who We Work With
    • Local Governments
    • Educators
    • Residents
    • Researchers
    • Careers
  • Research
    • Wildlife Migration
    • Pests and Invasive Species
    • Climate and Water Systems
    • Forests and Green Infrastructure
    • Human Impacts and Attitudes
    • Communication, Education, and Outreach
    • ERI Data Resources
  • Tools & Resources
    • Environmental Resilience Institute Toolkit (ERIT)
    • Hoosier Resilience Index
    • Hoosier Life Survey Opinion Map
    • Renewable Energy Development
    • ERI Data Resources
    • Fact Sheets
    • ERI Explainer
    • Webinars
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • Newsletters
  • Support Our Work
  • Search
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Home
  • News & Events
  • News
  • Archive
  • 2020
  • New law for a new century: NEPA ‘modernization’ could limit public input on environmental impacts, lawyers say

New law for a new century: NEPA ‘modernization’ could limit public input on environmental impacts, lawyers say

By: The Indiana Lawyer

Wednesday, September 02, 2020

Decorative - a headshot of Janet McCabe
Janet McCabe

Indiana is no stranger to road construction. Whether it’s the Interstate 65/70 project in downtown Indianapolis or the I-69 project running through southwest Indiana, Hoosiers are accustomed to roads expanding through residential areas.

For the last 50 years, Americans have had a say in how these projects impacted their neighborhoods through the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Signed into law in 1970, NEPA has since mandated environmental impact statements for major infrastructure and similar projects across the country.

Not much about NEPA has changed since President Richard Nixon signed it into law on Jan. 1, 1970, kicking off what’s been dubbed the “decade of the environment.” But because NEPA has not evolved much in the ensuing decades, the administration of President Donald Trump began a review of the statute in 2017, culminating in a final rule set to take effect Friday.

Describing NEPA as “mountains and mountains of red tape,” Trump has said the final rule makes revisions designed to streamline the environmental review process. That, in turn, will help infrastructure projects proceed faster, which the president says will have economic benefits.

But environmental groups and lawyers have concerns. While a modernization of NEPA was necessary, they worry the “streamlined” process could lead to cutting environmental corners.

Legal challenges have already been filed to stop implementation of the new rule. And with a hotly contested election mere months away, the fate of the Trump administration revisions is uncertain.

Read the full article

  • News
  • Events
  • Newsletters

Additional links and resources

  • ERI INTRANET
  • GRAND CHALLENGES
Donation button to Give Now to Environmental Resilience Institute
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Indiana University

Accessibility | Privacy Notice | Copyright © 2021 The Trustees of Indiana University

  • Who We Are
    • Leadership
    • Advisory Boards
    • Researchers
    • Staff
    • Mission and Vision
  • Who We Work With
    • Local Governments
      • ERI Toolkit
      • Hoosier Resilience Index
      • Webinars
      • Resilience Cohort
    • Educators
    • Residents
      • Hoosier Resilience Heroes
    • Researchers
    • Careers
  • Research
    • Wildlife Migration
    • Pests and Invasive Species
    • Climate and Water Systems
    • Forests and Green Infrastructure
    • Human Impacts and Attitudes
    • Communication, Education, and Outreach
    • ERI Data Resources
  • Tools & Resources
    • Environmental Resilience Institute Toolkit (ERIT)
    • Hoosier Resilience Index
    • Hoosier Life Survey Opinion Map
    • Renewable Energy Development
    • ERI Data Resources
    • Fact Sheets
    • ERI Explainer
    • Webinars
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • Newsletters
  • Support Our Work
  • Contact
  • Donate