Citing the "national emergency" spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic's economic hit, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that directs federal agencies to bypass environmental laws to expedite infrastructure projects, including those on federal lands, as a stimulus.

"Antiquated regulations and bureaucratic practices have hindered American infrastructure investments," said the directive. "The need for continued progress in this streamlining effort is all the more acute now, due to the ongoing economic crisis."

The指示，which Trump issued after 6:00 PM on June 4, said it is intended to speed up federal approvals for transportation, energy and other projects to boost job growth and related investment.

Leading advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity said on June 9 it has moved to file suit against the new directive. Also speculated is how recent federal court rulings that reinforce or extend environmental permitting could clash with the order.

EPA清洁空气推回

同样在6月4日，美国环境保护署建议将所有联邦清洁空气规则扩展到类似的联邦清洁空气规则对汞排放的变化4月最终确定的法规减少了其他空气污染物中削减的“共同利益”，以支持授权，尤其是合规成本。新利18备用官网登录EPA管理员安德鲁·惠勒（Andrew Wheeler）在媒体简报中说，仍将计算出这种共同利益，“但不会用来证明该规则是合理的。”

与特朗普紧急命令相关的是：“除了将加强经济和使美国人工作的这种投资之外，机构应采取所有合理的措施来加快基础设施投资，并加快其他行动，同时为公共卫生和安全提供适当的保护根据法律要求的资源和环境，”该指令说。

联邦例外允许在紧急情况下绕过《国家环境政策法》（NEPA）等法律。新利18备用网址

Trump has used a similar "national emergency" declaration to waive environmental rules on the multi-billion-dollar border wall construction program, as well as to divert billions of dollars for its construction from other DOD military building projects.

同时，政府已经提议earlier this yearNEPA规则的重大更改将简化或最大程度地减少环境评论。

Fast-Track Project Shortlist?

The new emergency order would also accelerate civil works projects overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and instruct the Interior, Agriculture and Defense departments to speed up projects on federal lands. Observers are not clear on whether the order also would expedite Interior Dept. approvals of wind energy projects, particularly offshore, which have not been favored by Trump.

Chiefs of the U.S. Transportation Dept. and U.S. Army civil works units, among other agencies, are to provide a list of expedited projects by July 4 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and to White House economic and environmental advisors, with work progress updates every 30 days "for the duration" of the COVID-19 "emergency," said the order.

陆战队spokesman Gene Pawlik said the agency "is working through what the order means and what the implications are, and will provide that information to the Army to meet its reporting requirements," declining to comment further on its projects to be expedited.

"I think we can safely move forward on the vast majority of projects without much angst," says Norman Anderson, CEO of Washington, D.C., infrastructure project consultant CG/LA Inc.“积压是由于遗产官僚机构无法做出决定而引起的，is killing us.当然，如果我们不做任何事情，我们已经艰难了3 - 5年。We can’t wait until January, so we—in a democracy—需要现在做出好的决定。”

但是，该订单没有发布任何详细信息，也没有证实要加快项目的额外资金。新利18备用网址

“监管优化是解决方案的一部分to moving an infrastructure-based recovery agenda forward, but what is equally important right now is funding, and a multi-year commitment to funding to give our federal, state, local and private partners the certainty they need to deliver projects,” says Jeff Urbanchuk, vice president of the American Council of Engineering Cos.

Nick Goldstein, vice president of regulatory & legal issues for the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, says the Trump order "doesn’t change any regulations. It’s a push to get agencies to use flexibility that already exists in NEPA and other regulations to expedite the review process in times of emergency."

He cites similar, but more limited use, of the waiver, in the repair of the collapsed Minneapolis bridge more than a decade ago, "which was rebuilt in a year and didn’t require a typical environmental review process."

"I expect the executive order will be challenged," says Goldstein. "Ltigants may claim that the regulations’ existing flexibility doesn’t apply to this kind of emergency." He says the order could possibly apply to new projects "if the emergency goes on, but the goal is to move current projects."

有风险的保护

Critics noted that while the administration cites the financial downturn caused by COVID-19 to justify the order, “gutting NEPA has been a policy priority of the administration since taking office,” the Southern Environmental Law Center said in a statement.

预计更改将在几周内获得批准。

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said "House Democrats oppose the president's latest assault on vital environmental protections."

她补充说：“通过使用大流行来证明快速追踪潜在危险，浪费或破坏性的基础设施计划是合理的，总统再次证明了他对我们法律的完全蔑视。”

But Pelosi also called for advancing "robust investments in sustainable and resilient infrastructure that strengthens, not diminishes, protections."

Susan-Jane Brown, an attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center, said the Trump order's impact "really depends on how [it] is applied," according to a报告in E&E News. She said NEPA has provisions for an expedited process, but stressed that they only delay, but don't waive environmental review obligations.

她说：“简单地说，我们手中有经济紧急情况，因此要建立大型的基础设施项目 - 在现实世界中，它并不是这样。”新利18备用网址