Attorney General Bonta Strongly Urges Trump Administration to Halt Unlawful Proposed Rule Amending U.S. EPA’s Regulations Implementing NEPA

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today led a coalition of 14 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opposing its proposed rule amending existing EPA regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The proposed rule would significantly weaken the implementation of NEPA by limiting the consideration of harmful impacts associated with federal projects, curtailing public involvement in NEPA reviews, and complicating federal and state coordination of environmental review. In the comment letter, the coalition argues that the proposed rule should be withdrawn as it would create significant environmental harm to communities nationwide and lead to less-informed environmental decisions. The coalition also argues that the rule is illegal and violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and NEPA.

"Preserving NEPA's core protections helps ensure that development proceeds with the public's confidence, respects affected communities, and leaves a sustainable world for future generations," said Attorney General Bonta. "When environmental impacts are ignored or communities are excluded from the decision-making process - as the Trump Administration is attempting to do with this rule - the detrimental costs do not disappear. They are borne by families living with polluted air and water, by taxpayers paying for preventable cleanup, and by future generations inheriting degraded ecosystems and greater climate risks. We urge the Trump Administration to rethink its course immediately and consider the long-term detrimental effects that would flow to states, tribes, communities, and habitats from this ill-considered proposed rule."

Enacted in 1969, NEPA is one of the nation's foremost environmental statutes. NEPA requires that before any federal agency undertakes a "major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment," it must take a "hard look" at significant environmental impacts of major federal actions and inform the public about that "hard look" before undertaking such action. As relevant here, EPA is responsible for reviewing environmental impact statements prepared by other federal agencies when those agencies permit major energy, transportation, and infrastructure projects.

In the comment letter, the coalition asserts that:

• The rule would strip communities of their voice and protection, allowing major federal projects to move forward without fully considering the environmental and health risks they pose to the people who live nearby.
• The rule is arbitrary and capricious and violates the APA and NEPA by not adequately explaining the agency's complete shift away from the standards for public participation and consideration of environmental impacts that it has used for decades.
• EPA's proposal to exclude indirect and cumulative impacts from consideration in environmental reviews would create confusion in federal project planning, undermine consistent environmental oversight, and allow significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions to go unchecked.

In submitting the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta leads the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, and the District of Columbia.