The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is one of America’s most important environmental laws, as it empowers impacted communities to raise concerns about the environmental impacts of proposed federal projects.
But last year, the Trump administration finalized the most drastic changes in over 40 years to how NEPA is utilized – allowing for the fast-tracking of polluting projects and excluding consideration of climate impacts. Trump gutted NEPA to prioritize fossil fuel corporations over people and public health.
The Biden administration is working to reverse some of these dangerous changes, but has decided to make piecemeal tweaks to Trump's handiwork rather than repeal the 2020 rules altogether. They are changing only three of the most grievous mistakes while allowing a plethora of nefarious provisions to remain.
This cannot stand.
In order to reverse Trump’s damage, we need President Biden to restore strong NEPA regulations that will ensure frontline communities have a way to fight polluting projects that threaten air, water and climate.
The Trump administration’s changes to how the federal government reviews the environmental impacts of projects are drastic and dangerous. A piecemeal approach to amending this regulatory disaster is not enough to adequately address the threat to our environment.
Trump’s 2020 rules:
Gutted public engagement requirements,
Expanded the long list of projects exempted from NEPA requirements,
Let project developers (like pipeline companies) determine the scope of what the government can review, and
Allowed developers to start some construction before the review even begins.
….and these are just a few of Trump’s terrible changes.
Through omission and inaction, the Biden administration’s tweaks to the Trump rules would cement many of their serious deficiencies. The good news is that we still have time to change course.
Now is our opportunity to influence how the final rule takes form. We should all have a say in what gets built in our communities – especially when it comes to polluting fossil fuel infrastructure that threatens the future of our climate.
Food & Water Watch and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Action, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate.
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