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This report fulfills the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) requirement in Section 11301 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to submit a Report to Congress describing strategies to ensure efficient National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes for surface transportation...
NEPA, enacted by Congress in 1969 and signed into law on January 1, 1970, requires Federal agencies to consider the environmental effects of their proposed actions. NEPA is often considered an “umbrella law” as it provides the framework for compliance with all environmental laws.
NEPA charges the Council on Environmental Quality with overseeing and guiding NEPA implementation across the Federal Government, which includes developing implementing procedures.
DOT NEPA Procedures
The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Loren Smith, signed the following notice on Friday, June 25, 2025 and Department of Transportation submitted it for publication in the Federal Register. While we have taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this pre-publication version, it is not the official version. Please refer to the official version in a forthcoming Federal Register publication, which will appear on the Federal Register website, https://www.federalregister.gov/, Government Printing Office’s website, https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/fr, and on https://regulations.gov in Docket No. DOT-OST-2025-0171. Once the official version of this document is published in the Federal Register, this version will be removed and replaced with a link to the official version. FR Notice for DOT Order 5610.1
DOT has nine modal Operating Administrations (or modes). Operating Administrations and entities with NEPA assignment agreements act as lead agencies under NEPA. NEPA activities are largely carried out by project sponsors, including state DOTs and transit agencies, in coordination with the appropriate federal lead agency. Note that surface transportation projects for FHWA, FRA, and FTA have unique NEPA requirements outlined in 23 U.S.C. § 139.
NEPA Assignment
Per 23 U.S.C. § 327, the Secretary of Transportation may assign federal NEPA responsibilities to a state, allowing a state to assume responsibilities for federal environmental review, consultation, and compliance. Currently the California High Speed Rail Authority and seven states have NEPA assignment authorities (Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Ohio, Texas, and Utah).
NEPA Liaisons
Transportation liaisons are personnel funded by DOT, State DOTs, or other project sponsors and housed in federal or state resource and regulatory agencies. DOT issued guidance on the use of liaisons in October 2022.
NEPA/Permitting Reports to Congress
The DOT NEPA Timeline Dashboard easily calculates and visualizes NEPA timelines for transportation projects. Data is from the Federal Permitting Dashboard which is a publicly-accessible website that tracks NEPA and permitting timelines for FHWA, FTA, FRA, and FAA EISs and EAs.
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