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
- An interim final rule takes effect first and accepts public comment at the same time.
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).
1The NEPA review framework
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.
2What an interim final rule is
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.
3The order of the steps differs
An interim final rule reverses the sequence of ordinary rulemaking.
NEPA requires federal agencies to assess environmental effects of their actions in advance, and agencies have kept their own implementing regulations in the CFR. This action removes the ACHP's NEPA implementing regulations from the CFR, one instance of a recent move across the federal government to simplify and streamline environmental review procedures.
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.