What Happened?
Ever wondered who gets a say when a new pipeline or highway goes up near tribal land? Tribes may now have different chances to weigh in on federal environmental reviews, depending on the agency and project type, and some of those chances may disappear. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) looked at how scrapping the government-wide rules for these reviews may affect tribal participation.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the federal office that sets government-wide rules for environmental reviews, scrapped its nationwide regulations effective April 2025. Those rules had required agencies to give tribes a chance to comment on projects reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Why Does it Matter to Me?
Without one federal rule, each agency now sets its own procedures, so whether a tribe gets a real say on a pipeline, road, or energy project near its land depends on which agency is running the review.
The federal Permitting Council set aside a combined $15 million across 2023 and 2024 to help tribes take part in environmental reviews for infrastructure projects covered by FAST-41, a federal fast-track permitting program.
That money came from $350 million Congress provided to the council's Environmental Review Improvement Fund. Rep. Bruce Westerman's SPEED Act would require agencies to assume that doing nothing on a tribal proposal hurts the tribe.
Both Sides, Now
Some tribal groups expressed support for the Trump administration's goal of reducing regulatory burdens on tribes, while also urging Congress to restore CEQ's regulatory authority and write tribal consultation requirements directly into NEPA itself.
Executive Order 14154, issued by the Trump administration, told CEQ to propose dropping its NEPA rules, and a later CEQ final rule made that removal permanent. Congress has not passed legislation restoring those rules, leaving agencies to fill the gap on their own.
Opponents of leaving tribal participation to individual agencies point to a documented pattern of inadequate consultation. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified factors that tribes and federal agencies said get in the way of properly consulting tribes on infrastructure projects, including projects that could harm tribal natural and cultural resources. The CRS report also says federal agencies pointed to limited staff and money as roadblocks.
What Happens Next?
The SPEED Act has passed the House, and on Dec. 18, 2025, it was received in the Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. A separate Senate bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Sept. 30, with no further action recorded.
The open question is whether Congress will set consistent rules for tribal participation in environmental reviews, or leave the current mix of different rules from agency to agency in place.
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