Throughout my career in land use and environmental planning, I saw properly planned and flexibly scheduled projects move through CEQA and NEPA with minor if any glitches, and often get improved incrementally by adjusting to what was found along the way. I've also seen projects that are not properly planned and justified get hung up, but seldom killed; when something comes out of CEQA and NEPA in the latter group, the project is often improved, but is always late and over budget.

Yes, anything like CEQA and NEPA (and Subdivision Map Act, and federal and state r/w rules, and pollution control rules, etc etc) can be used to hold up a project. Yes, project opponents or those who want something from the project (NIMBY, NOPE, YIMBY, labor unions, or whatever) will use any tools available to hold things up that they don't like, because delay is the main thing that can kill a project. People run out of money and/or will to do something. I've rarely seen an actually good project, ultimately, killed by that, though; if the project has enough support and solves an actual problem, it will continue in some (often improved) form.