The Department of Defense (DoD) announced today that it has streamlined its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures, joining a government-wide effort to modernize and expedite environmental reviews for both public infrastructure and military construction projects to support the Department's mission. This action will help expand the defense industrial base faster and will further the policies in President Trump's Executive Order, Unleashing American Energy.
The new NEPA implementing procedures are now uniform across the Department of Defense, ensuring predictable, consistent, and timely environmental reviews. Changes include expanding categorical exclusions for Department-wide use, mandating deadlines for the completion of environmental reviews, simplifying the ability to adapt and update NEPA implementing procedures, and capturing knowledge from previous evaluations to expedite new project reviews. These changes will significantly reduce the time and cost associated with environmental reviews, enabling faster construction in the defense industrial base and military construction projects vital to national security.
"These improvements are essential to modernizing our infrastructure and strengthening our national security," said Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey. "By streamlining the environmental review process, we will deliver critical projects more efficiently, ensuring our military and defense industrial base have the facilities and resources needed to defend our nation."
The DoD's updated procedures align with recent amendments to NEPA in the BUILDER Act provisions within the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act, and with the Supreme Court's recent decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County. All three branches of government have now expressed a clear commitment to removing unnecessary obstacles to infrastructure development. DoD coordinated with the White House Council on Environmental Quality to achieve this interagency effort to simplify NEPA compliance.
The 2025 DoD NEPA Implementing Procedures are located at https://www.denix.osd.mil/nepa/.
