Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says the changes will mean faster permitting, but critics warn it will lead to ‘rubber stamping’ projects that fall under NEPA review.

April 9, 2026 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) this week finalized a rule that will overhaul how the agency implements a key environmental law.

The new rule will significantly pare back environmental impact requirements, eliminate opportunities for public comment, and remove climate change and environmental justice considerations.

It represents a major change in the way the USDA implements the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which was signed into law in 1970 and requires the government to identify and assess the environmental impacts of any “major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.”

At the USDA, NEPA compliance can mean environmental assessments of grazing infrastructure on public lands or of plans to eradicate crop pests or to manage wildlife impacts on farms and livestock.

Last spring, the Trump administration rescinded NEPA regulations that applied across the government and directed agencies to make additional changes.

In a press release, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said the USDA’s approach will reduce the volume of NEPA regulations by 66 percent and will lead to faster, more efficient reviews. “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,” she said.

But representatives of environmental groups including the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, who have a lawsuit in process against the USDA opposing the rule change, said the final rule could shut the public out of important decisions.

“It really takes away our right to know what’s going on on our public lands,” said Wendy Park, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, who said she is also concerned about the USDA’s “vast” expansion of “categorical exclusions”—instances in which environmental assessments are not required. “There will definitely be more rubber stamping of projects,” she said.

In comments on an earlier proposed version of the rule, Earthjustice attorneys argued the removal of climate change and environmental justice considerations is not consistent with the law.

House Democrats on the Natural Resources Committee also objected to the proposed changes in a letter sent to Rollins last August. “Public comment is not a barrier to efficiency; it is how government agencies gain a full understanding of the environmental, cultural, and social consequences that their decisions will have on the public they serve,” they wrote.

In the letter, they argued insufficient staffing and funding, not NEPA regulations themselves, were responsible for issues with efficiency. “Enhancing permitting office budgets, increasing staffing levels, and investing in workforce training would significantly improve the efficiency and timeliness of NEPA reviews, while preserving the rigor and public accountability the law requires,” they said. (Link to this post.)

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