Dear Colleague Letter— Coordination of NEPA Schedules

By rahmat hidayat

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

On February 2, 2024, FTA published a Dear Colleague Letter regarding coordinating NEPA schedules for reviewing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) across the agency. The coordination ensures FTA's compliance with new timeframe requirements included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the NEPA amendments included in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The new requirements apply to projects evaluated with environmental assessments (EA) and environmental impact statements (EIS) with an expectation that they be completed in one year and two years, respectively.

The letter includes links to templates and other resources to help project sponsors develop projects sufficiently prior to the formal initiation of the EA or EIS to achieve timely environmental reviews.

FTA is committed to working with the project sponsors to ensure the timely completion of the NEPA process. Project sponsors are encouraged to review the letter and contact the relevant FTA Regional Office for any project-related questions.