Trump administration readies draft plan to speed environmental permitting

Source: Reuters

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAY 22, 2019 / 5:48 PM / UPDATED 8 MINUTES AGO

Trump administration readies draft plan to speed environmental permitting

(Reuters) - The Trump administration will complete a draft proposal to streamline environmental permitting for big infrastructure projects by next month, an administration official said on Wednesday, marking a key step in its controversial effort to cut red tape for industry over the objections of conservationists.

Ted Boling, associate director for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) at the White House Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ), said the draft rule to reform NEPA would be sent to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review in June, but did not disclose what changes the proposal would include.

NEPA, enacted in 1970, requires comprehensive studies be conducted into the potential environmental impacts of big proposed projects like pipelines and highways before they can proceed.

“This is a significant undertaking and I expect we will hold to a fairly ambitious schedule moving through the OIRA process,” Boling told a group of NEPA consultants at the National Association of Environmental Professionals conference in Baltimore on Wednesday.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-environment-regulation/trump-administration-readies-draft-plan-to-speed-environmental-permitting-idUSKCN1SS2WP