Completing a job initiated by the Biden administration, the National Park Service on Wednesday announced 33 types of projects that will no longer require the most extensive environmental reviews.
The so-called categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act are designed to speed work on projects deemed not to have significant environmental impacts.
“The Department of the Interior is focused on streamlining government processes that have slowed progress for too long,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. “These reforms will help the National Park Service act more efficiently while continuing to uphold environmental standards.”
NPS cited examples that include infrastructure upgrades, communications improvements, rights-of-way authorizations, cultural and natural resource management, recreation access and emergency response efforts.
