Rule would reestablish critical environmental standards eradicated by Trump administration
Washington (October 6, 2021) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement after the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) today proposed three procedural provisions to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that would restore key assessment factors and community safeguards during environmental reviews for a wide range of federal projects and decisions.
“The Biden administration’s new proposed rule for the National Environmental Policy Act represents an essential step to restore justice, transparency, and science into our nation’s bedrock environmental law,” said Senator Markey, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety. “Assessing all cumulative impacts and alternatives for a project will mean better federal decisions, better outcomes for communities, and better results for public health. The National Environmental Policy Act is our major watchdog against pollution and environmental degradation, and this rule would provide small businesses, local officials, families, and other community stakeholders with even stronger protection against climate and conservation catastrophes.”
In January 2020, the Trump administration changed the rules of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to limit the range of federal infrastructure projects that require review of environmental and climate impacts and restrict the scope of the assessments. In February 2020, Senator Markey and Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) led a letter calling on the Trump administration to withdraw its rewrite of the NEPA.
