Sources report that proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act would limit the kinds of projects subject to federal environmental review, and remove climate change as a consideration for large infrastructure projects.
Lisa Friedman reports: "Federal agencies would no longer have to take climate change into account when they assess the environmental impacts of highways, pipelines and other major infrastructure projects, according to a Trump administration plan that would weaken the nation’s benchmark environmental law."
"The proposed changes to the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act could sharply reduce obstacles to the Keystone XL oil pipeline and other fossil fuel projects that have been stymied when courts ruled that the Trump administration did not properly consider climate change when analyzing the environmental effects of the projects," adds Friedman. Some of the changes would end the need to consider cumulative environmental impacts, like climate change, during federal environmental review, according to the article.
The article includes more details on the proposed changes, as well as details of NEPA in its current form, set against the context of the Trump administration's efforts to rollback environmental regulations during its time in office.
FULL STORY: Trump Rule Would Exclude Climate Change in Infrastructure Planning
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
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Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
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Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
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Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association