NEPA
Trump’s Self-Defeating NEPA “Reforms”
Rather than streamlining the process, Trump is gumming up the works.
Trump has taken some dramatic steps in the name of improving use of NEPA, the statute governing environmental reviews of projects. The goal is to speed up the permitting process and make it more efficient. The reality is that his efforts will create chaos and uncertainty, with the likely effect of slowing things down.
CONTINUE READINGThe $133 Million Bat Tunnel
Here’s what permitting reform in the United Kingdom can teach the United States about building and abundance.
“We’ll rip out ‘insane’ environmental rules that block growth.” “We can’t get anything built anymore. Everything takes too long.” “We will streamline environmental obligations. We will limit the cynical legal challenges that block major infrastructure projects. We will strip away the years of consultation that drown builders.” You might well expect these threats and worries …
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CONTINUE READINGA Stealth Repeal of NEPA
Proposal from House Natural Resources Committee would effectively repeal NEPA
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is working on reconciliation language – legislation that can pass via a majority-vote in the Senate, but only so long as it relates to fiscal matters. It looks like House Republicans are going to try and use the reconciliation process to effectively repeal the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). …
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CONTINUE READINGFix Our Forests, version 2
A revised bipartisan proposal in the Senate is a step forward in the right direction
I wrote previously about the Fix Our Forests bill which has been passed by the House and is currently being considered by the Senate. I noted some concerns I had about its overuse of emergency authorities, its expansion of categorical exclusions, and some changes to litigation, as well as some positive features of the bill. …
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CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Discordant Coal Quartet
Yesterday’s four executive orders were long on talk and short on action.
Yesterday, flanked by a coal miners in hard hats, Trump signed four executive orders to restore their industry to its past glory. Given that coal is now the most expensive way to generate power other than nuclear, that’s going to be a heavy lift. Like many of Trump’s orders, these four are full of threats and bluster, but will have little immediate effect. These orders give the same impression as many executive orders — that Something Important is Being Done — but they are really more in the way of promises of future action.
CONTINUE READINGWhat are the benefits of NEPA?
NEPA’s benefits are not necessarily easy to measure, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important
This is the seventh in a series of posts on the reasons we might have environmental review. The first post is here. The second post is here. The third post is here. The fourth post is here. The fifth post is here. The sixth post is here. Which of the various reasons that we might …
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CONTINUE READINGNEPA as participatory democracy
NEPA might provide an opportunity for community-level engagement that advances public participation
This is the sixth in a series of posts on the reasons we might have environmental review. The first post is here. The second post is here. The third post is here. The fourth post is here. The fifth post is here. The last major category of potential benefits from NEPA that I want to …
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CONTINUE READINGNEPA as a veto point
Environmental review can empower a wider range of actors to block or hinder government projects
This is the fifth in a series of posts on the reasons we might have environmental review. The first post is here. The second post is here. The third post is here. The fourth post is here. Judicial review to enforce NEPA ensures that agencies actually take environmental review requirements seriously, as opposed to producing …
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CONTINUE READINGCan NEPA change agency decisionmaking?
Environmental review can change agency incentives or culture
This is the fourth in a series of posts on the reasons we might have environmental review. The first post is here. The second post is here. The third post is here. Another pathway by which environmental review might change outcomes, even with no legally binding substantive components, is through changing internal agency decisionmaking. The …
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CONTINUE READINGNEPA as a political tool
How NEPA can change environmental outcomes through political and public pressure
This is the third in a series of posts on the reasons we might have environmental review. The first post is here. The second post is here. A frequent critique of NEPA is that it is paperwork without purpose, and thus a waste of resources. How can a statute that has no substantive requirements, and …
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