WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden Administration’s newly unveiled proposed rule is a critical first step in restoring the essential role that the National Environmental Policy Act plays in guiding federal decisions — and minimizing federal projects’ harmful impacts on people and wildlife.  

“The National Environmental Policy Act is critical to ensuring that federal project managers look before they leap — and listen to experts and the public on a project’s potential impacts to people and wildlife alike. This proposed rule will help restore several foundational NEPA protections that were stripped away by the previous administration making a sham of the NEPA process,” said Mustafa Santiago Ali, vice president of environmental justice, climate, and community revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation. “We look forward to working with the Biden Administration to ensure this new rule prioritizes the input of frontline and historically marginalized communities, and to quickly restore all of NEPA’s essential protections.”