What Happened
On July 15, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) issued a memo titled Departmental Review Procedures for Decisions, Actions, Consultations, and Other Undertakings Related to Wind and Solar Energy Facilities. This directive, issued in accordance with recent executive and secretarial orders, requires that all decisions, actions, consultations, and approvals related to wind and solar energy projects with a DOI nexus undergo review at the highest levels of the agency. Routine permitting and review activities must now be elevated to the Secretary’s office, significantly altering standard review timelines and agency workflows.
The memo lists 69 categories of actions now subject to this additional review and approval process including National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) documentation, right-of-way approvals, lease actions, consultation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), visual impact assessments, and more. This directive may also extend to coordination with state or local environmental review processes, as well as to other types of infrastructure that primarily support or are functionally tied to wind or solar projects.
Why It Matters
Federal agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), have already begun implementing this directive. For example, USFWS has temporarily disabled…
