FAA’s NEPA Update – What You Need to Know About Order 1050.1G

As chronicled by our Federal Strategy Team here and here, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is undergoing its most significant reforms in a generation. The changes are driven by landmark Supreme Court decisions, congressional legislation, and Trump executive orders (EOs) aimed at deregulation and streamlining environmental reviews.  

In response to the recission of the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ’s) NEPA regulations, and to align with the current Administration’s priorities, the FAA released Order 1050.1G: FAA National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures on June 30, 2025, the first major update in a decade. The broader Department of Transportation has also issued updated department-wide NEPA procedures, DOT Order 5610.1D, for the first time in 40 years and FAA legal is working on identifying and clarifying what additional considerations need to be applied to FAA NEPA reviews.

In its July 3 Federal Register Notice, the FAA outlines a thorough rationale for these updates, concluding that the “revision has thus been called for, authorized, and directed by all three branches of government at the highest possible levels.” The agency states that Order 1050.1G will “maintain environmental amenities and protection and reduce regulatory delays that may impede aviation safety improvements and infrastructure development as well as integration of new entrant technologies.” It also aims to “promote collaboration and efficiencies in the implementation of NEPA and modernizes the procedures for environmental reviews.”

Projects initiated after June 30, 2025, must comply with Order 1050.1G.  Projects already underway should continue under Order 1050.1F with adjustments as needed to align with the NEPA statute as revised by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA), while also revising analyses as a result of rescinded and new Eos (i.e., environmental justice is no longer a topic of analysis). The FAA is requesting public comment (due by August 4, 2025) on the revised procedures, although they are in effect and there is no obligation or commitment from the FAA to update the procedures in response to comments. 

Key revisions include:

• New Format: FAA significantly reorganized Order 1050.1 to follow the new CEQ template, reducing it from 132 pages (11 chapters and 4 appendices) to 63 pages (7 parts and 3 appendices). Interestingly, the DOT Order 5610.1D was not updated to follow the CEQ template, making a simple crosswalk between the two orders difficult. 
• What is Not a Major Federal Action: FAA clarified that NEPA does not apply to actions with no or minimal Federal funding (a 14% threshold is introduced) or those with only a “but-for” causal relationship exists where the “Federal agency cannot control the outcome of the project or ministerial actions.” This change seems to give more flexibility in determining NEPA applicability for certain actions. A list of actions that generally qualify as major, and thus subject to NEPA, is provided (e.g., ALP approvals, licenses, permits). 
• Focus of Analysis: FAA Order 1050.1G no longer requires an analysis of environmental justice, climate change, and cumulative impacts and emphasizes directing agency “analysis on whether the environmental effects of the action or project at hand are significant.” This implies a narrowing of the scope of environmental reviews. Significance thresholds remain largely unchanged but have been moved to an appendix (Appendix A) with some modifications in response to recent case law.   
• Expanded List of Categorical Exclusions: FAA incorporates the two new CATEX categories introduced in Section 788(a) of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. CATEX B-2.4(gg) applies to projects with “limited federal assistance” and CATEX B-2.4(hh) applies to “emergency repair or reconstruction projects” in response to a disaster or emergency declaration. Consideration of potential extraordinary circumstances is required for these as with existing categories. All CATEXs are now in an appendix and numerical references have been changed.
• Increased Use and Availability of Categorical Exclusions: FAA revised and clarified methods for establishing new or revising existing CATEX categories. FAA incorporated the process for adopting another agency’s CATEX, as established by the FRA in Section 109 of NEPA, as amended. New language supports applying project-specific mitigation to a CATEX to reduce impacts and “avoid significance,” allowing for greater use of categorical exclusions.
• Adoption and Enforcement of Time and Page Limits: FAA procedures now reflect page limits and deadlines as codified in the 2023 FRA, (75 pages for an EA within one year, and 150 pages for an EIS within two years). It also indicates that tables and exhibits are no longer exempt from page limits.
• Changes in Definitions and Key Terminology: FAA specified that it must lead the scoping process (Section 1.8) and defined a “Responsible FAA Official” as an FAA employee. Practitioners will need to obtain updated definitions and key terminology from three sources:
  • Part 6 of Order 1050.1G
  • Part 26 of DOT Order 5610.1D
  • Section 111 of the NEPA Statute (42 U.S.C. § 4336e)
• Reduced Emphasis on Public Involvement: The increased use of categorical exclusions, which typically do not require public involvement, is one avenue for reduced need for public involvement. FAA has also provided more flexibility in satisfying NEPA review for Environmental Assessments (EAs); however, FAA retains discretion to do more than what is minimally required when prudent.

While the impact of these changes will be seen in future NEPA reviews, the NEPA landscape has already been unequivocally altered. Our FAA NEPA specialists are actively analyzing the new procedures. They are also supporting clients in applying them.  If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Mike Arnold, Autumn Ward, Ilon Logan, or Amy Reed. And be sure to stay tuned for more updates from ESA’s Federal Strategy Team analyzing the major changes in NEPA and the Endangered Species Act, among others.