PCCA submitted a detailed comment letter on September 18 to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its rulemaking, Modernizing the Commission's National Environmental Policy Act Rules, to streamline the environmental review process, promote efficiency, and encourage deployment of broadband and wireless infrastructure that results in more competition and technological innovation.
“Currently, PCCA members are preparing to deliver vital connectivity to rural and underserved American communities and drive economic prosperity for all through the BEAD program and other infrastructure investments from stakeholders, but they cannot afford additional needless delays caused by the broken environmental permitting process,” wrote PCCA.
PCCA’s letter made policy recommendations and illustrated how NEPA delays are a lose-lose problem in need of immediate reform.
“Contractors must figure out how to efficiently manage idle project materials, equipment, and labor allocated for a project during NEPA delays without a clear timeline for resolution. In addition, significant delays allow inflation and other factors to drive up materials and labor costs. This unpredictably costs PCCA member contractor customers money, eats into profits, and/or adds to project bottom-line costs shouldered by ratepayers, shareholders, and taxpayers.”
Permitting Delays Hurt Small and Large Businesses
On September 4, PCCA advocates and PCCA small business members participated in a U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy roundtable on the FCC’s NEPA reform rule.
“Small businesses have a particularly difficult time overcoming financial, materials, and labor problems caused by NEPA delays that hurt their profitability and operations,” wrote PCCA to the SBA and FCC. “Improving the NEPA process will increase transparency, reduce regulatory uncertainty, and ensure prompt decision-making to the benefit small and large businesses.”
PCCA’s recommendations to the FCC were echoed by industry stakeholders and the SBA in their September 22 comment letter to the FCC.
“Additional categorical exclusions from NEPA reviews would reduce regular non-impactful construction projects,” wrote the SBA Office of Advocacy in their comment letter to the FCC. “Advocacy requests the addition of small cell sites, collocations on towers, and laying fiber in existing corridors as categorical exclusions.”
“We urge federal agencies to build on this progress by focusing on several key principles when implementing NEPA updates: predictability, efficiency, and transparency,” according to a coalition comment letter led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and signed by more than 40 large and small stakeholder organizations.
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Explores Permitting Reform for Broadband Projects
Congressional committees have been holding hearings on permitting reform for broadband, energy, air, and water infrastructure projects.
PCCA and 500+ organizations from every U.S. state joined a U.S. Chamber of Commerce coalition letter on September 3 calling on Congress to enact meaningful legislation to modernize America’s permitting process.
On September 18, Rep. Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, led a hearing titled Examining Solutions to Expedite Broadband Permitting. Witnesses shared stories of harrowing NEPA delays and discussed the benefits of almost 30 bills on permit reform.
“According to recent feedback shared by PCCA member contractors, NEPA exposes simple broadband infrastructure projects, like microtrenching, boring, and plowing for fiber cable installation, to significant red tape and unexpected delays of months or even years requiring multiple federal agency reviews,” commented PCCA in a letter sent to the committee in advance of the hearing.
The Rocky Road to Permitting Reform
Earlier this year, federal agencies released new NEPA procedures that aim to simplify permitting of energy and broadband projects that are the lifeblood of PCCA member businesses.
The Trump administration’s new policies on permitting are a result of recent NEPA reforms by Congress and NEPA-specific court rulings. Together, these reforms should help more power and broadband projects break ground faster and provide certainty and clarity to stakeholders.
Between June 30 and July 3, 2025, multiple federal agencies––such as the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, Energy, Transportation, and Defense, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers––proposed updates to their NEPA regulations.
Broadly, the reforms will help expedite infrastructure development and cut project costs by:
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Setting deadlines and page limits on NEPA environmental reviews, as required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (two years and 150 pages for environmental impact statements; one year and 75 pages for environmental assessments).
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Clarifying that NEPA does not apply to every federal action.
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Allowing agencies to more easily create and adopt “categorical exclusions” for activities that do not have significant environmental impacts.
In most instances, federal agency NEPA changes are not yet in full effect as they await additional steps in the federal rulemaking process.
In February 2025, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), in compliance with President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” rescinded its NEPA regulations, which applied to all federal agencies. Additionally, the CEQ issued guidance directing federal agencies to update their own NEPA regulations within one year. On September 18, the U.S. Senate confirmed the PCCA-supported Katherine Scarlett to serve as the 13th chair of the CEQ, where much work needs to be done.
The new procedures also follow a recent Supreme Court decision in Seven County Infrastructure v. Eagle County clarifying that agencies generally must consider only the environmental effects of the project they are reviewing rather than study indirect impacts beyond their authority.
“For years PCCA has called on Congress and the White House to enact predictable and timely NEPA reviews, and there appears to be some momentum to explore commonsense win-win policy reforms,” said PCCA’s federal lobbyist Ben Brubeck, principal and CEO of Government Affairs Solutions. “The big question is will these reforms happen through Congress, the federal agency rulemaking process, or a combination of both, or will this be another missed opportunity for Washington to fix a bipartisan problem dragging down America’s economy and infrastructure needs.”
CEQ Updates NEPA Implementation Guidance
On Sept. 29, the PCCA-supported Council on Environmental Quality chair Katherine Scarlett released a memorandum providing agencies guidance on implementing the National Environmental Policy Act. The memorandum and corresponding Agency NEPA Procedures Template provide a framework for agencies to revise their NEPA procedures. See the CEQ press release on the guidance here.