Categorical Exclusion Under the National Environmental Policy Act for Certain Terminations or Revocations of Water Power Licenses and Exemptions

Document 2026-03657 is a Proposed Rule published by the Department of Energy in the Federal Register on February 24, 2026. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to amend section 380.4 of its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to expand an existing Categorical Exclusion (CE). A CE describes a category of actions that a Federal agency has determined normally does not significantly affect the quality of the human environment, absent extraordinary circumstances, and so does not trigger NEPA's requirement to prepare an environmental document. The proposed revision would add a category of actions to an existing CE to include terminations or revocations of water power licenses and exemptions that will result in minor or no ground disturbing activity and minor or no changes in reservoir conditions and downstream flows. View the original at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/02/24/2026-03657/categorical-exclusion-under-the-national-environmental-policy-act-for-certain-terminations-or.

No. Document 2026-03657 is not classified as economically significant under Executive Order 12866. Economically significant rules require OIRA review and are estimated to have impacts of $100 million or more per year.