Iowa v. Council on Environmental Quality

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In a lawsuit in which 21 states challenged the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ’s) 2024 amendments to its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the federal district court for the District of North Dakota held that NEPA did not give CEQ authority to issue binding regulations. In addition, the court found that CEQ exceeded its authority by making changes to language regarding NEPA’s purpose, by including global effects as a factor for consideration, and by requiring review of categorical exclusions at least every 10 years. The court also found that the CEQ regulatory amendments would be arbitrary and capricious in various respects, though it rejected the plaintiff states’ argument that the 2024 rule changed “fundamental aspects of NEPA” that they had relied on pertaining to greenhouse gas emission quantification. The court vacated the 2024 amendments, leaving in place the 2020 version of the regulations. The court wrote that it “cannot think of a more serious deficiency than an agency acting without Congressional authority” and that even if another court found that there was authority, “the pervasive errors the Court has found through its analysis under the purported authority is equally disconcerting” and “seemingly reflect a motive to change NEPA into something it is not.”

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