The (US) Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has unanimously approved measures to simplify its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review procedures for hydropower-related actions with minimal environmental impact. These regulatory improvements are intended to increase efficiency and accelerate approvals while upholding environmental standards.
Expressing their view, Chairman Laura V. Swett, said, “ We must move important approvals forward quickly while ensuring we fully meet our NEPA obligations. These actions are practical, common-sense solutions that streamline our hydropower environmental review processes and allow us to better focus our efforts on reviewing large-scale projects.”
Congress has empowered federal agencies to create Categorical Exclusions, the use of which satisfies NEPA without the need to prepare an Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement, for certain types of actions that normally do not significantly affect the quality of the human environment.
