Farmers and ranchers can expect quicker approvals for projects involving federal land or funding, including irrigation, grazing, or forestry improvements following the announcement of a finalized rule modernizing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had adopted changes introduced in the Interim Final Rule published on July 3, 2025, which consolidated seven agency-specific NEPA regulations into a single, department wide framework, reducing the overall volume of regulations by 66 percent. This major action is also a linchpin in the USDA’s broader Deregulatory Agenda for U.S. Agriculture and Consumers.
The NEPA requires all federal agencies to consider the effects of their projects and programs on the environment. The Farm Service Agency ( FSA) complies with NEPA by completing an environmental review prior to approving a project or program. The type of review that is completed depends on the size of the project or pro-gram.
“Since last July, agencies at USDA have shown they can reduce environmental review timelines by up to 80%. These faster, more efficient reviews are saving the Department millions in taxpayer dollars,” said Secretary Rollins. “Those savings benefit the American people, and quicker reviews mean the loans, critical infrastructure, and forest health projects our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities depend on can move forward sooner. USDA is proud to help advance President Trump’s vision of a government that serves its citizens, beginning with cutting unnecessary bureaucratic overreach.”
“NEPA is a procedural statute meant to ensure the government considers reasonable environmental analysis before making a final decision,” said Deputy Secretary Vaden. “ It has morphed into the greatest roadblock to everything from protecting our National Forests from devastating wildfires to constructing much needed roadways. With this reform, we return NEPA to its intended role of requiring analysis and unleash the ability of USDA to once again get the American people’s work done.”
For years, USDA agencies observed how over-regulation turned the NEPA process into a form of bureaucratic overreach that hindered American innovation, eliminated jobs, and increased costs for Americans. The changes in the Final Rule restore USDA’s NEPA implementation to its core purpose: ensuring federal agencies consider environmental impacts while maintaining the flexibility needed for efficient permitting and faster delivery of critical USDA services and funding relied on by farmers, ranchers, loggers, and rural communities.
These updates support implementation of Executive Order 14154, Unleashing American Energy, and follow the Council on Environmental Quality’s April 2025 recession of its NEPA implementing regulations, which formed the basis of USDA’s previous rules. Together, these changes reinforce USDA’s commitment to focusing on real-world results and prioritizing substance over process, addressing the harm caused by decades of unnecessarily lengthy and cumbersome NEPA reviews.