California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with attorneys general from 17 other states and Harris County, Texas, has urged several federal agencies to stop implementing new rules that rescind regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The affected agencies include the Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and Department of Transportation. According to the coalition’s comment letters, these new rules immediately replace existing NEPA regulations with what they describe as a set of “non-binding” procedures.
The attorneys general argue that these changes will lead to environmental harm nationwide by reducing public participation and resulting in less-informed decisions about major projects. They also contend that the rules are illegal under the Administrative Procedure Act and could result in violations of NEPA.
“For over 50 years, NEPA has served as the cornerstone of environmental oversight, ensuring that communities have a voice in major projects that affect their air, water, land, and livelihoods,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The rollback of these regulations undermine transparency, weaken environmental safeguards, and silence the very communities – often low-income, rural, and indigenous – that NEPA was designed to protect. Alongside attorneys general nationwide, we will not stand by as the federal government continues to strip away environmental protections and urge all federal agencies to halt this unlawful recission of NEPA regulations immediately.“
NEPA was enacted in 1969 and requires federal agencies to consider environmental impacts before taking actions significantly affecting human environments. This includes analyzing alternatives and mitigation measures for large-scale projects such as energy infrastructure or public land management.
The coalition’s comment letters highlight several concerns: they say rescinding NEPA regulations strips communities’ voices on polluting projects; claim the rules are arbitrary and violate required legal procedures; and warn that excluding indirect or cumulative impacts from reviews may create confusion in project planning while allowing greenhouse gas emissions to go unchecked.
The effort is co-led by Attorney General Bonta with counterparts from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island,Vermont,Washingon,the District of Columbia,and Harris County in Texas.
Copies of the five comment letters can be found here.
