Advisory Council on Historic Preservation rescinds its NEPA implementing rules (interim final rule, 2026)
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) published an interim final rule removing its own National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing rules from the CFR, while seeking comment — part of streamlining environmental review.
Document overview (primary data)
- Document typeRule
- AgencyAdvisory Council on Historic Preservation
- Citation91 FR 34159
Key points
- Rescinds the agency's NEPA implementing rules (deregulation)
- Uses an interim final rule plus a request for comment
- One example of simplifying federal environmental review
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) published an interim final rule removing its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act) is a foundational U.S. law requiring federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their actions in advance. Agencies have traditionally kept their own NEPA-implementing procedures in the CFR. This action deletes ACHP's NEPA procedures from the CFR.
An interim final rule differs from the usual 'proposed rule → comment → final rule' sequence: it takes effect first while simultaneously inviting public comment — a method used when immediacy is warranted.
[Why it matters] This is one example of the recent government-wide move to simplify and streamline environmental review, with agencies revisiting their own NEPA procedures. For businesses involved in environmental review of U.S. infrastructure and development projects, and for readers tracking deregulation, it signals how the procedures are changing.
Why it matters
Federal environmental review under NEPA has been a layered system in which each agency kept its own procedural rules in the CFR. This action removes one such layer and concretely reflects the recent push to streamline and deregulate environmental review — a change that can affect the timelines and predictability of infrastructure and development reviews.
FAQ
What is NEPA?
Sources (primary)
Source: Federal Register (federal documents, public domain). Links go to the official site.