Susan Lent Quoted in Inframation News on Impact of NEPA Reforms

Susan Lent, head of Akin Gump’s infrastructure and transportation practice, has been quoted in the Inframation News article “NEPA Reform Potential Imperiled by Litigation and Political Risk.” The article reports that recent White House reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) could lead to a greater number of new infrastructure projects over time, despite a possible increase in litigation and political risk and new battles over states’ rights.

Lent said the reforms could have a considerable impact on projects, including establishing a minimum federal funding threshold to conduct environmental impact studies. It could also lead to certain projects advancing faster than others, she added, if it was determined that those projects would not have significant environmental impacts.

For states that maintain their own NEPA processes, the article says cost and time could remain a considerable factor since the effect from streamlining federal approvals could be cancelled out to some degree. Sixteen states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have some form of state environmental policy act that mirrors NEPA. Lent pointed out that this includes California, New York and the state of Washington.