by R. Richard Geddes and Joshua Rauh
By all indications, President-elect Donald Trump is planning to make deregulation a key pillar of his new administration. His newly assembled Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will almost surely target not only the budget but also red tape. The President-elect also has made direct statements about regulation, recently pledging that those making investments of $1 billion or more in the United States “will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to all environmental approvals.”
Given these intentions, a first important step would be radical reform of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (NEPA). NEPA requires that prior to funding, authorizing or implementing a broadly defined “federal action” (such as issuing a permit to build infrastructure), government agencies must consider the action’s consequences for the environment, as well as its related social and economic effects. That could include impacts on clean a