Venable partner Fred Wagner was quoted in a March 14, 2017, Inside EPA article on plans by the Trump administration to undo Obama-era guidance on how federal agencies should consider greenhouse gases and climate impacts under National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. While the president has been expected to roll back the guidance, it face an uncertain future as no such guidance has ever been rolled back before.
According to Wagner, the new administration may not be able to ignore climate and greenhouse gas issues. In a blog post he wrote late last year, Wagner said the administration could "constrain the recommended scope of any such analysis, whether on a project-specific or planning level of analysis." He added, "The federal courts have largely written NEPA's history to date, and the handling of potential GHG impacts and application of any new federal policy will be no exception."