As part of his sweeping “energy emergency” declaration, President Donald Trump is cementing a stunning court ruling that cut back the White House’s role in orchestrating environmental reviews for major projects like pipelines, highways and dams.
On Monday, the newly elected president revoked a decades-old executive order giving the White House Council on Environmental Quality the power to craft rules for how agencies comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. Trump’s action follows a surprise finding late last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that CEQ has no authority to write regulations.
Trump’s directive was tucked into a broader order calling for more streamlined approval of energy projects nationwide. Instead of creating rules for how federal agencies should comply with NEPA, CEQ under Trump’s order will provide guidance to agencies and head a coordinated effort to update each agency’s environmental review procedures.
“It’s a jujitsu move,” said Ted Boling, a longtime CEQ official who helped lead NEPA reform during Trump’s first term. “It’s using NEPA for broader policy purposes.”
