Today, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC) reacted to the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) final Phase 2 rule amending the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which will make the process even more burdensome for livestock producers.

“In a time when the Biden Administration should be focusing on reducing regulatory burden on themselves and their partners, this new NEPA framework does the opposite. The Biden Administration largely ignored the requirements Congress passed in the Fiscal Responsibility Act that would streamline NEPA processes. Instead, this final rule changes the focus of NEPA, making it more ambiguous, less targeted, and nearly impossible to navigate,” said Kaitlynn Glover, NCBA Executive Director of Natural Resources and PLC Executive Director. “This rule will make federal permitting, including for grazing permits, so much more difficult and expensive, and gives radical activists groups further license to weaponize NEPA against ranchers and rural communities.”