The Trump administration has finalized a plan to gut the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). (AP News)
The White House Council on Environmental Quality rescinded key regulations for the 56-year-old bedrock law, with chair Katherine Scarlett declaring that “NEPA’s regulatory reign of terror has ended” and promising to eliminate the “needless layering of bureaucratic burden” that delays energy projects.
The executive action lands just as Congress debates federal permitting overhaul, but the move likely torches any remaining bipartisan goodwill. Democrats argue the administration is using “reform” as a cover to silence public input and limit judicial review.