Trump Overhauls Key Environmental Law To Speed Up Pipelines And Other Projects – By Jeff Brady (NPR) / July 15 2020
In Atlanta today, President Trump will announce big changes to the regulations that govern one of the nation’s most significant environmental laws. The aim is to speed up approval for major projects like pipelines and highways, but critics say it could sideline the concerns of poor and minority communities impacted by those projects, and discount their impact on climate change.
The 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. It requires federal agencies to consider the environmental effects of proposed projects before they are approved. It also gives the public and interest groups the ability to comment on those evaluations.
The administration’s new regulations are expected to reduce the types and number of projects that will be subject to review under the NEPA. An earlier version of the proposed rules truncated those reviews in an effort to streamline processes that can take years to complete. It also dropped a requirement that agencies consider the cumulative environmental effects of projects, such as their contribution to climate change.
Continue to article: https://www.npr.org/2020/07/15/891190100/trump-overhauls-key-environmental-law-to-speed-up-pipelines-and-other-projects
