Trump administration rescinds Rice’s whale protection expansions, starts NEPA review, signs another EO
The Interior Department rescinded the Biden administration’s expansion of protection for the Rice’s whale, which lives in the US Gulf of Mexico. A preliminary injunction issued by the Western District of Louisiana prevented the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management from implementing the protections, issued in a notice to leases, and the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision.
Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, hailed the news. “Environmental protection is a shared priority, but it must be pursued through a fair and transparent process,” he said in a statement, noting that the Rice’s whale remains “fully protected” under the Endangered Species Act.
NEPA
The Trump administration Feb. 19 also began laying the groundwork for an overhaul of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the law that requires the government to consider the environmental impact before approving infrastructure, including gas and oil pipelines. The White House said it was reviewing the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and Council on Environmental Qualities guidance on NEPA.
Earlier this week, Trump withdrew White House regulations directing the implementation of the law. He also ordered the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to “provide guidance on implementing NEPA to expedite and simplify the permitting process.”
In a memo to agencies, White House official Katherine Scarlett directed agencies to “continue to follow their existing practices and procedures” for the time being. She also directed agencies to revise their NEPA review procedures in consultation with the CEQ within a year.
Executive order
Separately, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) to assert control over independent agencies like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The order directs all independent agencies to submit “significant regulatory actions” for White House review. The order also notes that the president and attorney general will decide on questions on how to interpret laws.
“These regulatory agencies currently exercise authority without sufficient accountability to the President, and through him, to the American people,” the EO reads. “For the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected President.”
Congress established independents agencies more than 100 years ago to keep regulations separate from the political interests of the White House. In the EO, the White House says the Constitution gives the president absolute authority over every executive office and agency.
Cathy Landry | Washington Correspondent
Cathy Landry has worked over 20 years as a journalist, including 17 years as an energy reporter with Platts News Service (now S&P Global) in Washington and London.
She has served as a wire-service reporter, general news and sports reporter for local newspapers and a feature writer for association and company publications.
Cathy has deep public policy experience, having worked 15 years in Washington energy circles.
She earned a master’s degree in government from The Johns Hopkins University and studied newspaper journalism and psychology at Syracuse University.
