Revision of National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures; Extension of Comment Period
On September 25, 2026, the United States Postal Service (USPS) published an interim final rule with request for comments to partially rescind and update its remaining National E...
On September 25, 2026, the United States Postal Service (USPS) published an interim final rule with request for comments to partially rescind and update its remaining National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures, which were promulgated to implement the now-rescinded Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations. USPS requested public comments by October 25, 2026. USPS is now extending the comment period until November 9, 2026, to allow the public additional review and submission time for any comments on the interim final rule.
DATES:
The comment period for the interim final rule published on September 25, 2026 (91 FR 60827) is extended. USPS must receive comments by November 9, 2026, to ensure consideration.
ADDRESSES:
Interested parties may direct comments and questions to: Mr. Thomas Shepherd, Environmental Counsel, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Office 6606, Washington, DC 20260-6201, or at
NEPA@usps.gov.
All submissions must include the agency name, “United States Postal Service,” and the subject heading “NEPA Procedures Rulemaking.” Note that comments sent by mail may be subject to delay due to Federal security screening. Faxed comments are not accepted. All submitted comments and attachments are part of the public record and subject to disclosure. Do not enclose any material in your comments that you consider to be confidential or inappropriate for public disclosure.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas Shepherd, Environmental Counsel, or Asif Ansari, Director, Environmental Affairs, at
NEPA@usps.gov
or at (202) 738-2939.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
On September 25, 2026, USPS published an interim final rule partially rescinding and updating its remaining National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures (91 FR 60827). USPS is revising its NEPA implementing regulations to contain only: (i) definitions of terms used in the regulations; (ii) administrative and routine actions excepted from NEPA review in appendix A; (iii) its revised categorical exclusions in appendix B based upon experience with existing regulations and new policies and infrastructure that have been implemented since the establishment of
( printed page 66792)
the categorical exclusions; (iv) related requirements for determining when NEPA applies to USPS actions and for the application of categorical exclusions; and (v) a provision for emergency circumstances. Going forward, USPS will maintain the remainder of its NEPA procedures—which apply only to USPS's internal processes—in a Handbook separate from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). This interim final rule requests comments on this action and related matters to inform USPS's decision-making. USPS has decided to extend the public comment period for 15 days to allow for additional review and submission time. Therefore, the public comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking will now close on November 9, 2026.