President Joe Biden has enacted a law that exempts certain U.S. semiconductor manufacturing facilities, funded under the CHIPS & Science Act, from undergoing additional federal environmental assessments, reports Reuters. This move is intended to speed up the approval process and prevent potential delays for projects already in progress.
The new law prevents fab projects from being subjected to extra reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 1969. Proponents of the legislation argue that these projects already comply with existing federal, state, and local environmental regulations, and the added NEPA reviews could have delayed them for years. However, some environmental groups oppose the law, arguing that NEPA reviews are crucial for ensuring things like the safety of workers and communities potentially exposed to hazardous materials used in semiconductor production.
