Trump Administration’s actions show disdain for the environment and public health
Site of a project in Moab, Utah, to relocate radioactive mill tailings away from the Colorado River
Kelly Michals, Flickr
New guidance is out of line with more than 45 years of NEPA practice.
WASHINGTON DC (Feb. 20, 2025) — The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) late last night removed the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) from the books and released new guidance for how federal agencies should implement NEPA. The guidance is wildly out of line with more than 45 years of NEPA practice and shows shocking disdain for public health and the environment.
The actions taken Wednesday by CEQ will cause widespread harm to the public and to our shared public lands, as well as widespread inconsistency in how the country’s bedrock environmental law is implemented across the federal government.
Alarmingly, CEQ’s guidance signals the direction it wishes agencies to go with their NEPA implementing procedures, such as suggesting that agencies do away with fully studying all environmental impacts, not examine environmental justice concerns and prioritize environmental reviews prepared by project sponsors.
The Wilderness Society is concerned that the recent actions by the administration will sideline the public’s health and well-being in exchange for “efficiency and certainty” in promoting extractive commercial development projects on public lands.
“The Trump administration is turning its back on people and the environment that sustains us all,” said Ronni Flannery, Senior Staff Attorney at The Wilderness Society. “We will not give up the fight for a transparent, science-based decision-making process centering meaningful public engagement and consideration of all impacts to our wildlands, communities, and climate, as NEPA requires.”
TWS is continuing to examine CEQ’s actions and will consider next steps.
Contact Chelsi Moy, Communications Director, Chelsi_Moy@tws.org
