TheCouncil on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a division of theExecutive Office of the President that coordinates federalenvironmental efforts in theUnited States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices on the development of environmental and energy policies and initiatives.
The CEQ produces an annual report for the president on the state of the environment, oversees federal agency implementation ofenvironmental impact assessments, and acts as a referee when agencies disagree over the adequacy of such assessments. TheNational Environmental Policy Act tasks CEQ with ensuring that federal agencies meet their obligations under the Act, granting the body a significant role in environmental protection. Through inter-agency working groups and coordination with other EOP bodies, CEQ also works to advance the president's agenda on the environment, natural resources, and energy.
TheUnited States Congress established the CEQ within the Executive Office of the President as part of theNational Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), during theRichard Nixon administration.[1] The CEQ was assigned additional responsibilities by theEnvironmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970. In enacting NEPA, Congress recognized that nearly all federal activities affect the environment in some way, and mandated that federal agencies must consider the environmental effects of their actions during their planning and decision-making processes. Under NEPA, CEQ works to balance environmental, economic, and social objectives in pursuit of NEPA's goal of "productive harmony" between humans and their environment.[2]
PresidentBill Clinton appointedKathleen McGinty and thenGeorge T. Frampton Jr. to chair the agency. Clinton started his administration in 1993 with an announcement that CEQ would be "replaced" with a new White House Office on Environmental Policy with McGinty as director before later merging that office back into CEQ with McGinty formally nominated as chair.[3][4][5]
During the Bush administration, there were concerns over links between CEQ staffers and the industries it oversaw.BBC Environment AnalystRoger Harrabin described it as "a hard-line group of advisers with close links to theU.S. oil industry."[8] One CEQ chief of staff under President Bush,Philip Cooney, was previously alobbyist employed by theAmerican Petroleum Institute.[9] In June 2005,The New York Times published an internal CEQ memo provided by federalwhistleblowerRick Piltz. The memo showed Cooney had repeatedly edited government climate reports in order to play down links betweenemissions andglobal warming. Cooney, who claimed he had been planning to resign for two years, resigned two days after the scandal broke "to spend more time with his family."[10] Immediately after resigning, Cooney went to work forExxonMobil in their public affairs department.[11] In 2005 Piltz created a watchdog organization Climate Science Watch, a program of theGovernment Accountability Project.[12]
In October 2017, PresidentDonald Trump nominatedKathleen Hartnett White—former chair of theTexas Commission on Environmental Quality—to be chair of the CEQ.[19] However, her nomination was withdrawn in February 2018 as she did not garner enough support in the Senate.[20] CEQ chief of staff and acting headMary Neumayr was nominated and considered in summer 2018 as chair. She was confirmed in January 2019.[21]
In 2025, the second Trump administration issued an interim final rule directing the CEQ to rescind all regulations it had made implementing the NEPA since 1977.[29]
TheChair of the Council on Environmental Quality serves as the principal environmental policy adviser to the US President. In addition, CEQ reports annually to the President on the state of the environment; oversees federal agency implementation of theenvironmental impact assessment process; and acts as a referee when agencies disagree over the adequacy of such assessments. The Council coordinates federal environmental efforts and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental policies and initiatives.
^Clinton started his administration in 1993 with an announcement that CEQ would be "replaced" with a new White House Office on Environmental Policy with McGinty as director before later merging that office back into CEQ with McGinty formally nominated as chair.[3][4][5]
^Banerjee, Neela (February 14, 2014). "Obama's environmental advisor set to return to Los Angeles".Los Angeles Times. latimes.com. Retrieved February 4, 2018. Refers to "her five years as head of the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality".
^Eilperin, Juliet (February 6, 2015). "Meet Christy Goldfuss, the newest environmental player in the White House".The Washington Post. washingtonpost.com. Retrieved February 4, 2018. "Goldfuss ... will succeed Mike Boots as acting head of CEQ.... Boots is stepping down in March, and Republican opposition to the president’s environmental policies would make Senate confirmation of any CEQ chair nominee unlikely."
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