Trump plans to cut key environmental protections, activists say Louisiana especially at risk

https://www.wwltv.com/mobile/article/tech/science/environment/louisiana-vulnerable-as-trump-plans-to-cut-environmental-regulations/289-1cb92a16-4973-49cf-b1c4-2494db715801

The proposed changes would undercut half a century of environmental policy, and the effects could be felt in Louisiana for decades.

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NEW ORLEANS — The Trump administration Thursday proposed rollbacks to key federal environmental regulations, sparking Louisiana activists' concerns about the oversight of in-progress industrial facilities -- including some in the infamous "Cancer Alley" from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.

President Donald Trump said that if the new regulations are approved, companies and federal agencies would be required to finish environmental impact assessments within a year, and would be limited to two years to complete environmental impact statements.

"The United States will not be able to compete and prosper in the 21st century if we continue to allow a broken and outdated bureaucratic system hold us back from building what we need," Trump said. "The roads, the airports, the schools, everything."

In general, an environmental impact assessment tells whether a project would have a significant environmental consequence. If the assessment determines that the consequence of a particular development or policy would be significant, the agency that produces it must then submit an environmental impact statement, which lays out the consequences in detail.

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