in effect
This is an “interim final rule” from the Department of the Air Force (part of the Department of Defense) that removes the Air Force’s own regulations for carrying out the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), found at 32 CFR Part 989. The rule took effect immediately on July 1, 2025, and at the same time invites the public to send in comments. Going forward, the Air Force says it will follow new Department-wide DoD NEPA procedures instead of its own rescinded rules.
The entire regulation at 32 CFR Part 989 is deleted from the Code of Federal Regulations. In its place, the Air Force will use DoD-wide NEPA procedures that are posted online rather than written into the CFR, which the document says lets DoD update them faster in response to court rulings or presidential directives. The document gives three reasons: the Council on Environmental Quality’s NEPA regulations (which Part 989 was written to supplement) were repealed effective April 11, 2025; Congress amended NEPA in the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act; and the Supreme Court’s May 29, 2025 decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County described NEPA as a “purely procedural” statute. The rule was made effective right away without the usual advance notice-and-comment period, which the agency says it was legally allowed to skip because the change is procedural and there was “good cause” for speed; the public still had until July 31, 2025 (30 days) to comment. The categorical exclusions that were in the old Appendix B have been carried over into the new DoD procedures.
The rule applies to all Air Force (and Space Force) activities and organizations that conduct environmental reviews of their projects, which will now run under the DoD-wide procedures instead of Part 989. Members of the public can submit comments through regulations.gov or by mail. The document states the change will not have a significant economic impact on small entities, states, or Indian Tribal governments.