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CEQRulemakingCEQ-2019-0003

Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act

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Edison Electric Institute filed 1 comment on this docket between Mar 11, 2020 and Mar 11, 2020. 336 other organizations filed here. The comment window closed 2331d ago.

What Edison Electric Institute filed (1)

Mar 11, 2020· Comment from Alex Bond, Edison Electric Institute· CEQ-2019-0003-167720

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) appreciates the opportunity to submit comments on the advanced notice of proposed Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act issued by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). 85 Fed. Reg. 1,684 (Jan. 10, 2020) (Proposed NEPA Rule). The Proposed NEPA Rule is intended to make the regulations more efficient and effective, so that federal agencies conducting NEPA reviews may conduct them in a timelier and less resource intensive manner, while still ensuring that agencies consider the wide range of environmental impacts of proposed actions. EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide electricity for more than 220 million Americans and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As a whole, the electric power industry supports more than seven million jobs in communities across the United States. The electric power industry is in the middle of a profound, long-term transformation in how electricity is generated, transmitted, and used. This transformation is being driven by a wide range of factors, including: low and declining costs for natural gas and renewable energy resources, technological improvements, changing customer expectations, federal and state regulations and policies, and the increasing use of distributed energy resources (DERs). As a result, the mix of resources used to generate electricity has changed dramatically over the last decade and is increasingly clean. Concurrent with this transition, EEI member companies are investing significant amounts of capitalestimated at more than 130 billion dollars in 2019 aloneto make the energy grid smarter, cleaner, more dynamic, more flexible, and more secure in order to integrate and deliver a balanced mix of resources from both centralized generation sources and DERs to customers. EEI's comments focus on three primary areas: first, the industry's continued clean energy transformation and the resultant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions; second, several of the process-oriented changes in the Proposed NEPA Rule that would make the NEPA review process more efficient, effective and timely, while ensuring that NEPA's larger goals of informing the public and promoting federal decisions that consider environmental impacts are met; and, third, that agencies should take steps to quantify GHG emissions reasonablyand appropriately contextualize and caveat such quantificationsto satisfy NEPA's informational requirements as well as minimize challenges to environmental reviews on the grounds that they did not adequately address such emissions. EEI appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Proposed NEPA Rule. Questions may be directed to Alex Bond (abond@eei.org, 202-508-5523), Eric Holdsworth (eholdsworth@eei.org, 202-508-5103) or Sarah Ball (sball@eei.org, 202-508-5208).

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Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (CEQ) — Edison Electric Institute | OpenPolis