The Agriculture Department is making final its new fast-track approach to environmental reviews, potentially speeding logging and other projects on national forests.
USDA’s final rule revising procedures through the National Environmental Policy Act will reduce public comment periods in some cases. It will also affect issues beyond public lands, such as the agency’s responses to animal health emergencies like the avian flu.
In the final rule — which closely followed an interim final rule from last July and is to be published in the Federal Register on Friday — the department emphasized the need for efficiency and, in some cases, quick action to respond to emergencies. The effort follows a broader rewrite of NEPA implementing procedures across the government, directed by President Donald Trump in an executive order in February 2025.
In many cases, USDA said — including developing the final rule itself — allowing public input is time-consuming and not necessarily in the public interest. Still, the department said it “voluntarily” sought comment last summer on the interim final rule, receiving thousands of submissions.
