Documents › Agency rules › 2026-06537
Agriculture Department
National Environmental Policy Act
Published April 3, 2026. Takes effect April 3, 2026, printed at 91 FR 17062, amending 7 CFR 1. 65,535 words.
A law makes agencies weigh what a project does to nature. The farm agency makes its steps final.
What the Rule Says It Does
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting the interim final rule (IFR) published on July 3, 2025, with minor changes, as final. The IFR revised departmental regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and removed various USDA agency regulations for implementing NEPA. The IFR was in response to the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) rescission of its NEPA implementing regulations (which USDA's NEPA regulations were designed to supplement), statutory changes to NEPA, executive orders, and case law. In the IFR, USDA provided a 30-day comment period for the public to review and make comments. This final rule addresses public comments and adopts as final the IFR, with certain substantive changes as explained herein.
This is the rule's own summary, as the Federal Register prints it.
The Orders It Names
- Executive Order 14154: Unleashing American Energy
- Executive Order 14173: Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity
The rule names these orders itself. What it does about them is a reading, and none is recorded here.
On the Face of the Rule
- As filed
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 64 (Friday, April 3, 2026)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 17062-17122] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2026-06537]
Vol. 91
Friday,
No. 64
April 3, 2026
Part II
Department of Agriculture
7 CFR Part 1b
National Environmental Policy Act; Final Rule
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 1b
[USDA-2025-0008] RIN 0503-AA86
National Environmental Policy Act
- AGENCY
Agriculture (USDA).
- ACTION
Final rule.
- DATES
This final rule is effective April 3, 2026.
- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Scott Vandegrift, Chief Environmental Review and Permitting Officer, Office of the Secretary, 202-720-5166, [email protected]. Individuals who use telecommunications devices for the hearing-impaired may call 711 to reach the Telecommunications Relay Service, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including holidays.
The fields the Federal Register prints at the head of the rule, quoted as printed. Its summary is quoted above.
Why the Agency Says It Is Doing This
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
The following acronyms are used frequently:
APA--Administrative Procedure Act CE--Categorical Exclusion CEQ--Council on Environmental Quality CFR--Code of Federal Regulations EA--Environmental Assessment EIS--Environmental Impact Statement E.O.--Executive Order FANEC--Finding of Applicability and No Extraordinary Circumstance FONSI--Finding of No Significant Impact FRA--Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 IFR--Interim Final Rule NEPA--National Environmental Policy Act ROD--Record of Decision U.S.C.--United States Code USDA--U.S. Department of Agriculture
The passage that opens the rule's preamble, where the agency sets out what it is doing and on what authority. Every heading that follows it is listed below.
What the Rule Contains
Every heading the Federal Register prints in this rule, in the order it prints them. 23 headings, 65,535 words in all.
- AGENCYOn its face · 3 words
- ACTIONOn its face · 3 words
- SUMMARYOn its face · 116 words
- DATESOn its face · 9 words
- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACTOn its face · 47 words
- SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIONPreamble · 62 words
- I. BackgroundPreamble · 2,294 words
- II. Basis for Consolidating and Revising USDA's NEPA RegulationsPreamble · 9 words
- A. USDA NEPA RegulationsPreamble · 968 words
- B. USDA Agency-Specific NEPA Regulation SummariesPreamble · 6 words
- 1. Statement of PurposePreamble · 29,955 words
- C. Transition Period for USDA NEPA RegulationsPreamble · 496 words
- III. Regulatory CertificationsPreamble · 3 words
- A. Regulatory Planning and ReviewPreamble · 109 words
- B. National Environmental Policy ActPreamble · 66 words
- C. Regulatory Flexibility ActPreamble · 53 words
- D. FederalismPreamble · 99 words
- E. Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal GovernmentsPreamble · 174 words
- F. Energy EffectsPreamble · 44 words
- G. Civil Justice ReformPreamble · 148 words
- H. Unfunded MandatesPreamble · 112 words
- I. Paperwork Reduction ActPreamble · 68 words
- List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1bRegulatory text · 30,624 words
The Rest of the Text
This rule runs to 65,535 words. The rest of it is set out over 4 pages, split at the rule's own headings so that no heading is parted from the words printed under it.
- Text 1 of 4: I. Background to B. USDA Agency-Specific NEPA Regulation Summaries4 headings · 3,277 words
- Text 2 of 4: 1. Statement of Purpose1 heading · 29,955 words
- Text 3 of 4: C. Transition Period for USDA NEPA Regulations to I. Paperwork Reduction Act11 headings · 1,372 words
- Text 4 of 4: List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1b1 heading · 30,624 words
- The rule itself
Agriculture Department, “National Environmental Policy Act,” 91 FR 17062 (April 3, 2026). Effective April 3, 2026.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/03/2026-06537/national-environmental-policy-act - This page
“National Environmental Policy Act,” a final rule naming an order indexed here. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/rules/rule-2026-06537/ (retrieved October 10, 2026).
Cite the document when the claim is about what the document says. Cite this page when the indexing, the wording or the record of what has happened is what is being relied on.
How This Rule Is Set Out
Federal Register documents are United States government works and are not under copyright, so the rule is here whole rather than cut to an excerpt. It is split at the headings the Register itself prints: the line it is filed under, the captioned fields on its face, the preamble where the agency says what it is doing and why, and the amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations. No passage is shortened. This rule is long enough that its text is set out over 4 pages rather than one.
Two things the Register prints are not reproduced: the running head it repeats at every page break, and the tables it sets as pictures rather than as words. Its own marker for one of those tables, [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED], is left standing where the table was, so a reader can see that something is there and follow the link to the page it is on.