This paper presents an overview of recent progress in the area of inertial fusion energy (IFE) safety and environment (S&E) in the US. Over the past several years, a significant effort has been devoted towards the development of S&E analyses for future IFE power plants. We have completed the safety assessment of various baseline IFE power plant concepts, including simulation of accident scenarios and accident consequences analyses, S&E studies of candidate target materials and discussions on waste management issues. The results from this work have allowed for a better understanding of the behaviour of radioactive sources and hazardous materials within the IFE power plant, identification of the energy sources that could mobilize those materials in case of an accident and assessment of waste management options for IFE. Currently, ongoing S&E studies for IFE are focusing on emerging design concepts, which include support to the high average power laser (HAPL) program for development of a dry-wall, laser-driven IFE power plant and collaboration with the Z-pinch IFE program for the production of an economically attractive power plant using high-yield Z-pinch-driven targets. In this paper, the main safety issues related to the HAPL and Z-IFE programs are reviewed, some recent safety highlights are presented and future directions in the IFE S&E area are proposed.