Transportation

The SPEED Act reforms the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to streamline federal environmental reviews for projects. It limits agencies to considering only "proximate" environmental effects directly tied to a specific project (not speculative or distant impacts), sets strict 180-day deadlines for court remands, and restricts judicial review to procedural errors - not environmental outcomes. This primarily affects federal agencies (like the EPA or Corps of Engineers) and project developers (e.g., for infrastructure, energy, or construction projects) by reducing review scope and accelerating approvals. The bill clarifies NEPA is purely procedural, prohibiting courts from substituting their judgment on environmental effects or delaying actions for new scientific data after deadlines.

This joint resolution allows off-road vehicles to be used in certain areas of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which is in northern Arizona and southeastern Utah and contains Lake Powell. Specifically, the joint resolution nullifies the rule issued by the National Park Service (NPS) titled Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; Motor Vehicles  and published on January 13, 2025. Under the rule, the NPS limited the use of off-road vehicles, such as off-highway vehicles and all-terrain vehicles, in certain areas. For instance, the rule prohibited the use of off-road vehicles on an 8-mile segment of the Poison Spring Loop located on Route 633 proceeding north to Route 730 in the Orange Cliffs Special Management Unit. The rule also eliminated the authority of the NPS to open the upper portion of the Flint Trail in that unit to off-road vehicles. Additionally, the rule limited off-road vehicle use from certain roads to the shoreline of the lake.