"Citing a need to reduce 'paperwork,' the Interior Department has imposed controversial new restrictions on the length of crucial environmental studies.

In a newly revealed Aug. 31 memo, Interior Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt directed that the department's environmental impact statements 'shall not be more than 150 pages or 300 pages for unusually complex projects.'

The memo states it 'dovetails' with a presidential executive order focused on infrastructure projects, while adding that it is being issued in the 'context of the department's overall effort to streamline the NEPA process.'"

Michael Doyle reports for Greenwire September 6, 2017. [2]