Recission of NHTSA's 1975 Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>49 CFR Part 520</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. NHTSA-2025-0160]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2127-AM35</RIN> <SUBJECT>Recission of NHTSA's 1975 Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Interim final rule; request for comments. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This interim final rule rescinds the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) 1975 Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts from the Code of Federal Regulations because they are outdated, because they were promulgated on the basis of authorities that have been rescinded, and because the Department of Transportation has promulgated updated Department-wide National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures that will guide NHTSA's NEPA process. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This interim rule is effective on July 3, 2025. Written comments must be received by August 4, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> You may submit comments electronically to the docket identified in the heading of this document by visiting the Federal eRulemaking Portal at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov.</E> Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Alternatively, you can file comments using the following methods: • <E T="03">Mail:</E> Dockets Operations, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001. • <E T="03">Hand Delivery or Courier:</E> Dockets Operations, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 366-9317 or (202) 366-9826 before visiting Dockets Operations. Regardless of how you submit your comments, you should mention the docket number identified in the heading of this document. <E T="03">Instructions:</E> All submissions must include the agency name and docket number or Regulatory Information Number (RIN) for this rulemaking. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Public Participation heading of the <E T="02">Supplementary Information</E> section of this document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov,</E> including any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading below. <E T="03">Docket:</E> For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov.</E> You may also access the docket at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays. Telephone: 202-366-9826. <E T="03">Confidential Business Information:</E> If you claim that any of the information in your comment (including any additional documents or attachments) constitutes confidential business information within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) or is protected from disclosure pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1905, please see the detailed instructions given under the Public Participation heading of the <E T="02">Supplementary Information</E> section of this document. <E T="03">Privacy Act:</E> Please see the Privacy Act heading under the Regulatory Analyses section of this document. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> You may contact Stephanie Walters by email at <E T="03">stephanie.walters@dot.gov</E> or by telephone at 202-819-3642. Address: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Washington, DC 20590. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), adopted its own National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures in 1975 at 49 CFR part 520 (“1975 procedures”), as directed by Executive Order (E.O.) 11514, <E T="03">Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality</E> (35 FR 4245 (Mar. 7, 1970)), and the Council on Environmental Quality's Guidelines of April 23, 1971 (36 FR 7724). NHTSA's 1975 procedures established the initial framework for conducting NHTSA-specific environmental reviews on its rulemakings and regulatory actions. Subsequently, E.O. 11991, <E T="03">Relating to Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality</E> (42 FR 26967 (May 24, 1977)), amended E.O. 11514 to require the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to issue binding regulations for NEPA compliance, which it did at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508 (CEQ regulations). Among other sections, 40 CFR 1500.3 stated that the CEQ regulations were applicable to and binding on all Federal agencies for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA. Accordingly, NHTSA has followed NEPA's statutory requirements, its 1975 procedures to the extent they were previously consistent with law, and CEQ's NEPA implementing regulations to assess the environmental impacts of the agency's actions. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Basis for Removing the NHTSA NEPA Regulation</HD> NHTSA has determined that it is appropriate to remove its 1975 procedures because the regulations are no longer consistent with the governing laws and orders relevant to NEPA, which have changed significantly since 1975. NHTSA's 1975 procedures were established pursuant to E.O. 11514 and CEQ's 1971 Guidelines (36 FR 7724). E.O. 11514 was amended by E.O. 11991, which has now been rescinded by E.O. 14154, <E T="03">Unleashing American Energy</E> (90 FR 8353 (Jan. 29, 2025)). CEQ's 1971 Guidelines, which were the basis for CEQ's NEPA Implementing Regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500 <E T="03">et seq.,</E> have also been repealed. <E T="03">See Removal of National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Regulations,</E> (90 FR 10610 (Feb. 25, 2025)). These circumstances raise questions concerning the legal basis for NHTSA to maintain its 1975 procedures and create a need for NHTSA, which had long relied on CEQ's regulations in administering NEPA, <E T="03">see supra,</E> to modernize and update its own regulations. Further, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA 2023), Public Law 118-5, amended NEPA to provide more detailed procedures for environmental reviews. The FRA 2023 amendments require agencies to facilitate timely and unified Federal reviews, develop a single environmental document as appropriate, and comply with page limits and deadlines. FRA 2023 also outlines guidelines for using programmatic environmental documents and a streamlined process for adopting another agency's categorical exclusions. NHTSA's 1975 procedures do not incorporate the FRA 2023 amendments that require the agency to conduct more effective and efficient environmental reviews. E.O. 14154 instructed CEQ to provide guidance on implementing NEPA to expedite and simplify the permitting process and to meet deadlines established in FRA 2023. The E.O. also directed all agencies to prioritize efficiency and certainty over any other objectives. NHTSA's 1975 procedures do not conform with E.O. 14154, and applying those procedures would be inconsistent with the directives in E.O. 14154—to conduct environmental reviews in a timely and efficient manner. Finally, the Supreme Court on May 29, 2025, issued <E T="03">Seven County Infrastructure Coalition</E> v. <E T="03">Eagle County, Colorado,</E> 145 S. Ct. 1497 (2025), in which it described the “transform[ation]” of NEPA from its roots as “a modest procedural requirement,” into a significant “substantive roadblock” that “paralyze[s]” “agency decisionmaking.” <E T="03">Id.</E> at 1507, 1513 (quotations omitted). The Supreme Court explained that part of that problem had been caused by decisions of lower courts, which it rejected, issuing a “course correction” mandating that courts give “substantial deference” to an agency's reasonable conclusions underlying its NEPA process. <E T="03">Id.</E> at 1513-14. But the Court also acknowledged, and through its course correction sought to address, the effect on “litigation-averse agencies” that, in light of judicial “micromanage[ment],” had been “tak[ing] ever more time and [ ] prepar[ing] ever longer EISs for future projects.” <E T="03">Id.</E> at 1513. NHTSA, thus, is issuing this IFR to align its actions with the Supreme Court's decision and streamline its process of ensuring reasonable NEPA decisions. NHTSA finds that each of the reasons stated above independently make the agency's 1975 procedures outdated and inoperative. Accordingly, NHTSA has determined that it is most appropriate to remove its 1975 procedures. In light of recent directives and the repeal of CEQ's NEPA Implementing Regulations, DOT has updated its NEPA implementing procedures (DOT Order 5610.1D, “Departmentwide National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures”) to be applicable to NHTSA and several other DOT operating administrations and which will now serve as the primary procedures for implementing NHTSA environmental reviews. Subpart D of DOT Order 5610.1D includes NHTSA-specific NEPA procedures. The action taken under this interim final rule will avoid duplication and maintain consistency with the departmentwide NEPA implementing procedures, which aid efficiency, improve the timely completion of the environmental review process, and refocus agency practice on fostering infor ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 33k characters. 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