The White House finalized on Wednesday the reversal of one of the nation’s fundamental environmental laws, with President Trump
Donald John TrumpIvanka Trump launches Goya Foods products on Twitter Sessions defends the challenge: “I leave the elected office with my integrity intact” Former White House doctor Ronny Jackson wins the second round of Texas MORE calling the law the “biggest obstacle” to large construction projects.
Critics say the rollback will destroy the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which for 50 years has required the government to assess environmental and community concerns before approving pipelines, roads, drilling permits, new factories, or any major action in federal lands.
Changes to the Trump administration aim to simplify environmental reviews that industry complaints can take years to complete. The reviews can take approximately four and a half years, while the White House would like to reduce that to two years.
The rollback removes the requirements to consider climate change before proceeding with a project.
Protocols for weighing the concerns of nearby communities, often communities of color, would become much more complex.
It also opens the door for greater industry participation in the review of the environmental impacts of their projects or the complete exclusion of reviews for some projects that receive little federal funding.
“Today’s action is part of my administration’s fierce commitment to cut the unnecessary bureaucracy network that is holding our citizens back. I’ve been wanting to do this from day one, ”Trump told a crowd at the UPS Hapeville Airport Hub in Atlanta. “It is one of the most important things we can do for our country.”
Trump promised that the new rule would reduce traffic in congestion-ridden Atlanta, arguing that the changes would help with the expansion of the three-lane I-75 freeway near the facility where an express lane was recently added. His overtures to the state come as Democrats increasingly look to Georgia as a possible battleground in November.
Conservatives have repeatedly praised the changes to the law as a way to deal with traffic congestion, but NEPA covers a wide range of projects that emit a variety of pollutants.
Throughout his administration, Trump has called the law an obstacle to major construction projects that he says will help create jobs and ensure the construction of pipes he promised to build during the campaign. The rule follows several executive orders that also aimed to weaken NEPA in the name of boosting the economy.
“Trump’s absolute gutting of these regulations is completely contrary to the statute’s intent,” said Christy Goldfuss, former head of the White House Environmental Quality Council under former President Obama. Now she works at the Center for American Progress.
“The intention of the law is that humans and nature coexist for the benefit of all. These new regulations could not be further from the original purpose, and they are unlikely to stand up in court, “he said.
Trump’s rewriting of the law removes the government’s responsibility to consider the cumulative effects of the projects, something the courts have largely interpreted as studying how a project could contribute to climate change.
In the case of a road, that could mean not only the environmental damage of the road itself, but the impact of vehicles that emit greenhouse gases circulating on it. The government would also need to weigh how the project would add to the pollution other nearby highways are already emitting.
“This idea of cumulative impacts is really central to the way NEPA works, and arguably, there is no greater environmental crisis that is linked to cumulative impacts than climate change,” said Goldfuss. “Because it really is about greenhouse gases as well as greenhouse gases and other pollution that adds to this global disaster that we are all experiencing.”
Failing to assess the big picture could be particularly damaging to poor communities and communities of color that are disproportionately selected as the site for polluting industries and projects, critics say.
Historically, NEPA has allowed communities to challenge projects and push for alternatives, such as expanding solar and wind power rather than building a pipeline to supply power.
But rewriting allows permit applicants to limit the range of alternatives that can be considered, while communities seeking to challenge a project will now have to offer much more onerous criticism.
“It requires that the comments be really specific, that the page numbers on the site are really technical in ways that can be really challenging for communities. They may need to hire people to write their letters, if they can afford to do so, ”said Kym Hunter, a senior attorney with the Center for Environmental Law of the South, who has helped numerous majority minority cities to challenge polluting projects.
Representative Nanette Díaz Barragán (Democrat for California), whose members have fought on a number of projects, called NEPA a critical tool for civil rights.
“With today’s Trump administration rule, fossil fuel corporations will be able to crush harmful projects without considering the dangers of pollution to people in nearby neighborhoods. NEPA gives our very vulnerable communities across the country the opportunity to make our voices heard and stop pollution in our own backyards, ”he said. “President Trump is trying to steal our voice. We will not be silenced. ”
The changes have been widely supported by the industry.
“NEPA permit reforms will allow the US to build energy infrastructure safely, provide job opportunities to American communities, and help expand our national economy,” said Anne Bradbury, CEO of the American Exploration Council and Production, which represents the exploration of oil and natural gas and Production companies.
However, some have expressed concern that the new language is vague and could delay permits by sowing more confusion.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, which builds many of the nation’s highways, rejected the need to obtain approval from a “senior agency official” to exceed the page and time limits set forth in the regulations.
“Agency decision makers must have flexibility to shape the breadth and depth of NEPA reviews as necessary to adequately inform decisions entrusted to them, including the flexibility to exceed limits at their discretion,” he said. the group, referring to state-level officials. “The additional step in the procedure is an unnecessary administrative burden and will cause project delays.”
Environmental groups have already pledged to file lawsuits that challenge reversal, another element of uncertainty for companies weighing new projects.
Hunter said she feels confident that environmental groups have a good case. The White House has violated numerous rules of procedure, she said, while her claims that she is trying to modernize the law are undermined by her exclusion from the impacts of climate change.
But she is concerned if the rule is allowed to hold, the government will make bad decisions with impacts that could last for decades.
“NEPA is about forcing the government to think carefully before making decisions,” he said, adding that obtaining public opinion on a wide range of options is essential.
“They must agree on what that action will be like and whether it is worth the costs. If the government no longer needs to take that hard look, both from a community perspective and from a good government perspective, I don’t think it has the tools it needs to make good decisions. ”
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