The White House on 19 April announced it has restored key protections to a landmark environmental law governing the construction of pipelines, highways, and other projects that President Donald Trump had swept away as part of an effort to cut red tape.
The new rule will require federal agencies to scrutinize the climate impacts of major infrastructure projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, a 1970 law that required the government to assess the environmental consequences of federal actions, such as approving the construction of oil and gas pipelines.
In 2020, Trump introduced major changes to the law’s implementation, saying the government would exempt many projects from review and speed up the approval process. His administration also said federal agencies would not consider “indirect” climate impacts. Trump and allies in the business community said the move would reinvigorate infrastructure projects across the nation.
Under the rule finalized by the Biden White House, regulators will now have to account for how government actions may increase greenhouse-gas emissions and whether they will impose new burdens on communities, particularly poor and minority neighborhoods, that have already faced disproportionate amounts of pollution.
The move underscores how President Biden is looking for ways to push forward on his climate agenda despite rising concerns about cost increases in the economy. Triggered by the court order and under pressure to increase the supply of energy, his administration announced on 15 April that it would resume issuing oil and gas leasing, disappointing climate activists. The administration is also working to implement a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed last fall.
Business groups and Republicans are likely to argue that the 19 April move is going to raise costs and slow construction, but White House officials insisted that won’t be the case.
“Patching these holes in the environmental review process will help projects get built faster, be more resilient, and provide greater benefits—to people who live nearby,” Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, said in a statement.