April 21, 2022 |
The White House has finalized a new rule restoring environmental review measures that had been eliminated under former President Trump. The rules, issued by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, amend National Environmental Policy Act regulations by requiring stricter reviews of the environmental impacts of large infrastructure projects.
The rule change will once again require federal agencies to consider indirect and cumulative environmental impacts of their actions, involving controversial calculations related to climate change.
Wyoming Governor Gordon said the changes to the NEPA process announced yesterday will slow down infrastructure projects and will negatively impact states’ economies and industries.
The governor said the rule change will be used, not to assess real environmental impacts, but imagined ones. The result, he said, will be to obstruct development while encroaching on private and state rights.
The Trump administration changed NEPA implementation regulations in 2020 to speed up permitting time for new projects like highways or transmission infrastructure or other actions like fossil fuel lease sales.
The new rule, “Phase 1” of Regulation 0331-AA05, was published in Wednesday’s Federal Register. It takes effect May 20.
Environmental groups applauded the announcement. A second, broader rule making even more aggressive changes is expected to be proposed later this year.
