EADM: Reforming Regulation and Policy

Environmental Analysis and Decision Making (EADM) is a change effort that intends to reduce the time and cost of our environmental analysis and decision making processes to produce efficient, effective, and high quality land management decisions to accomplish more work on the ground and be more responsive to the public we serve. Reform of the Forest Service’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) policies and procedures is a key activity within the EADM effort.

The Forest Service aims to improve its NEPA policies and procedures to make them more efficient, while fully honoring our environmental stewardship responsibilities. The reforms will identify ways to improve or eliminate inefficient or redundant processes, while maintaining a commitment to high-quality environmental analysis based on the best available science. Increasing the pace and scale of the work accomplished on the ground, an intended result of improving our NEPA policies and procedures, will help to ensure the health, resilience, and productivity of America’s national forests and grasslands.

Updating Agency National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Procedures

In 2008, the Forest Service codified its procedures for complying with NEPA. However, these regulations, in large part, still reflect the policies and practices established by the agency’s 1992 NEPA Manual and Handbook. The proposed rule will help the Forest Service make timelier decisions based on high quality, science-based analysis. This improves the Forest Service’s ability to get work done on the ground while meeting our environmental stewardship responsibilities. The updates in the proposed rule incorporate lessons learned and experience gained from our staff and partners over the past 10 years.

In January 2018, the Forest Service published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to update agency NEPA procedures in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 36 CFR 220. The Forest Service released the proposed rule on June 13, 2019 in the Federal Register, initiating a 60-day public comment period and a 120-day Tribal consultation period. A final rule will be developed and published after considering and addressing public comments on the proposed rule, the results of tribal consultation, and other input.