On September 8, 2023, Fred Wagner was featured on Environmental Professionals RADIO, where he discussed Phase II NEPA Reform, the Future of WOTUS, and Upcoming Supreme Court Cases. The following is a quote from the interview:
Well, the Fiscal Responsibility Act was what was passed. The Fiscal Responsibility Act isn't all that much about fiscal responsibility, but it was the combination of discussions on the Hill about what to do with NEPA and permitting reform, and there was a great deal of speculation whether there actually be a separate piece of legislation…And so there was a point that we thought oh, there is going to be an impasse, but lo and behold, as the deadline came along to prevent defaulting… a subset of the provisions that had been proposed by Republicans emerged as a compromise and was actually put into the Fiscal Responsibility Act and for the first time in 50 years, amended NEPA… Great, but that was the big, big headline, no one expected Congress to get to a point where they would amend the grandfather of all environmental law.
Click here to listen to the podcast.