How long does each level of NEPA review take?
The level of review sets the clock more than anything else. In the authors' updated Forest Service data, decisions signed from 2005 to 2021, the median categorical exclusion took 110 days from the scoping notice to the signed decision memo, the median EA 441 days and the median EIS 1,041[1]. Most EAs and nearly every EIS took more than a year.
| Level of review | Decisions | Median | Middle half | Over 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categorical exclusion (decision memo) | 32,208 | 110 days | 52 to 241 days | 15% |
| Environmental assessment (decision notice) | 6,405 | 441 days | 232 to 769 days | 59% |
| EIS (record of decision) | 759 | 1,041 days | 626 to 1,645 days | 92% |
Are NEPA reviews getting faster at the Forest Service?
Only categorical exclusions are. From 2005 to 2020, the median CE fell from 118 to 95 days, while the median EA rose from 429 to 614 days and the median EIS from 802 to 1,938, as the decisions signed each year fell by half[1]. The authors found the agency starting less than half as many projects a year as before 2010[4].
| Year signed | CE | EA | EIS | Decisions signed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 118 | 429 | 802 | 3,064 |
| 2008 | 124 | 370 | 935 | 3,045 |
| 2011 | 97 | 440 | 1,104 | 2,563 |
| 2014 | 115 | 484 | 920 | 2,055 |
| 2017 | 116 | 529 | 1,330 | 1,934 |
| 2020 | 95 | 614 | 1,938 | 1,553 |
EIS timeline across federal agencies
CEQ tracked 1,903 EISs from notice of intent to final EIS. The median fell from 3.2 years for those finished in 2010 to 2018 to 2.8 years in 2019 to 2024, and to 2.2 years in 2024, when 41% finished within two years. A record of decision followed the final EIS by a median 2.8 months[3].
The lead agency matters as much as the year. In CEQ's data for 2019 to 2024, FERC's median EIS took about 1 year and FHWA's 4.5; the Forest Service's took 3.8 years, and 17% of its EISs finished within two[5].
| Lead agency | Count | Median | Within 2 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| All agencies | 525 | 2.8 years | 34% |
| FERC | 49 | 1.0 year | 76% |
| Air Force | 21 | 2.1 years | 48% |
| Fish and Wildlife Service | 21 | 2.6 years | 43% |
| BLM | 89 | 2.7 years | 33% |
| NOAA | 33 | 3.2 years | 27% |
| Army Corps of Engineers | 47 | 3.3 years | 17% |
| Forest Service | 69 | 3.8 years | 17% |
| FHWA | 26 | 4.5 years | 12% |
NEPA deadlines: 1 year for an EA, 2 years for an EIS
Since 2023, a lead agency must finish an EA within 1 year and an EIS within 2, counted from the earliest of its decision to prepare one, its notice that a right-of-way application is complete, or its notice of intent. If it can't, it may set a new deadline, in consultation with the applicant, with only as much extra time as needed[2].
Measured against those limits, 59% of the Forest Service's EAs took more than a year to decide, and 68% of its EISs more than two years to the record of decision[1]. Under the limits, 64 of the 142 EIS notices of intent published June 2023 to September 2024 (45.1%) reached a final EIS within two years of the notice, in our analysis of EPA's EIS database[6].