On August 14, 2025, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) proposing to modernize the Commission’s environmental rules under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) in response to recent statutory and executive changes aimed at streamlining infrastructure permitting. Specifically, the NPRM proposes to revise FCC environmental regulations to align with amendments to NEPA (via the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act), the Council on Environmental Quality’s (“CEQ’s”) recission of regulations, President Trump’s Executive Order 14154 prioritizing permitting efficiency, and a recent Supreme Court ruling confirming that NEPA is procedural and that agencies have broad discretion in defining Major Federal Actions (“MFAs”) and setting the scope of environmental review. The proceeding is part of a broader FCC regulatory review and could substantially reshape how environmental and historic preservation obligations apply to communications infrastructure deployment.
The NPRM contains the following proposals:
- Clarify “Major Federal Action”: The FCC seeks comment on revising its process to first consider whether an action is an MFA (rather than relying on the current presumptive MFA/categorical exclusion process) and proposes to codify the meaning of MFA and its exceptions. As part of this proposal, the FCC seeks comment on whether the issuance and deployments of geographic area licenses as well as site-based licenses, should constitute MFAs under the new NEPA definition, which requires “substantial federal control and responsibility.” The FCC also asks similar questions regarding earth station licensing and antenna structure registration (“ASR”).
- Review of National Historic Preservation Act (“NHPA”) Applicability: The FCC seeks comment on FCC actions that would be deemed “undertaking” triggering NHPA review. In the event that certain wireless facility deployments are no longer MFAs, the FCC asks whether those deployments should also cease to be “federal undertakings” subject to NHPA. This could significantly narrow the scope of historic preservation reviews for wireless infrastructure projects, particularly those not subject to ASR or individual site approval.
- Revise Categorical Exclusions (“CEs”): The FCC seeks comment on whether clarifications to the FCC’s rules governing when an EA is required are necessary, whether the list of extraordinary circumstances in section 1.1307(a) should be deleted or revised (such as listing specific MFAs as categorically excluded), and whether the catchall provisions contained in sections 1.1307(c) and 1.1307(d) should be deleted or revised. The FCC seeks comment on whether a more tailored list of exclusions would better align with NEPA as amended and reduce unnecessary environmental assessments for routine or low-impact actions. The Commission also seeks comment on whether any of the FCC’s enumerated extraordinary circumstances should be deleted or otherwise streamlined.
- Update Environmental Assessments (“EAs”)/Environmental Impact Statements (“EISs”) Requirements: The FCC proposes potential revisions to EAs, EISs, environmental notification/public participation, submission deadlines, and inter-agency coordination procedures. These changes aim to modernize and expedite the FCC’s review process, ensure procedural clarity, and establish enforceable timelines for agency action.
- Application to Space-Based Activities: The FCC plans to tentatively conclude that satellite operations be excluded from NEPA review under the amended statute’s “extraterritorial activities” exclusion. It asks whether:
- Environmental concerns related to satellite operations (e.g., orbital debris, re-entry, sunlight reflection) fall outside NEPA’s jurisdiction.
- Any additional safeguards should be considered even if such activities are not subject to NEPA as MFAs.
- Address Additional Topics: The FCC seeks comment on:
- Adopting other agencies’ CEs to reduce duplication and promote consistency.
- Clarifying joint agency procedures, including roles as lead or cooperating agency in multi-agency reviews.
- Revising rules for emergency situations to allow faster infrastructure deployment during crises.
- Evaluating the FCC’s role as a federal agency under NEPA to define when its actions trigger environmental obligations.
- Conducting a cost-benefit analysis of environmental procedures to assess regulatory burdens and justify reforms.
- Excluding voluntary ASRs from the FAA Notice Requirement.
The following notable updates were made from the draft item:
- The first sentence of the adopted draft says the NPRM takes a “fresh look at our environmental rules” in light of amendments to NEPA under the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) and a Presidential executive order. The draft discussed “a fresh look at whether we should revise our environmental rules.” (emphasis added)
- ¶ 19 – The FCC added an inquiry into whether certain Commission actions are Major Federal Actions (“MFAs”) and whether to add them to the categorical exclusions in 47 C.F.R. § 1.1306. The FCC also asks about extraordinary circumstances that might require environmental review of such categorically excluded actions, as well as consistency with the goals of NEPA, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (“NHPA”), and efficiency goals.
- ¶ 22 – The FCC recognized that “non-Federal actions” with “no or minimal Federal funding” are excluded from the codified definition of MFAs and proposes to implement this exclusion by finding that no MFA exists unless Commission funding is expressly directed towards the construction of the particular communications facility in question (rather than more generally directed toward, overall operator expenses, for instance).
- ¶ 25 – The FCC added a question asking whether fulfilling the buildout requirements of a geographic license can qualify a project as an MFA subject to environmental review.
- ¶ 33 – The FCC changed the paragraph title from “outer space” to “space-based operations,” revised the NEPA exclusion proposal for extraterritorial effects by changing the language excluding “satellite operations” to instead exclude “space-based operations,” thereby broadening the scope of the proposed exemption, and added an inquiry into whether any space-based operations occur within U.S. jurisdiction and are otherwise subject to NEPA.
- ¶ 34 – The FCC added a proposal to codify its long-standing view that NEPA does not apply to unlicensed wireless facilities.
- ¶ 36, fn. 114 – The FCC added a footnote describing its July 2025 Tribal consultation on NEPA and NHPA processes, listing participating Tribal Nations and Native Hawaiian Organizations.
- ¶ 52, fn. 156 – The FCC added inquiries into whether rules should clarify if actions on delegated authority are final agency actions under NEPA; whether FCC Bureaus or Offices can require applicants to file an Environmental Assessment (“EA”) or Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”); whether such determinations should be referred to the full Commission; and whether these proposals align with NEPA, NHPA, and efficiency goals. In the accompanying footnote, the FCC clarified that existing delegations under the Communications Act remain unchanged and are subject to application for review.
- ¶ 54 – The FCC asks if it “determines that towers built pursuant to geographic licenses are MFAs, should the Commission adopt a categorical exclusion that applies specifically to these towers, and, if so, should the Commission also describe any extraordinary circumstances that might apply to geographically licensed towers such that environmental review would be necessary?” says another added question.
- ¶ 106 – The FCC changed the language to replace “federally recognized Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages” with “Tribal Nations and Native Hawaiian Organizations” in its statement allowing certain ex parte presentations during consultations to be exempt from disclosure requirements in permit-but-disclose proceedings and from prohibitions during the Sunshine Agenda period.
The NRPM was adopted at the August Open Meeting. The item was published in the Federal Register.
Comments are due September 18, 2025.
Reply Comments are due October 3, 2025.
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