On May 8, 2024, Inside the EPA quoted Fred Wagner on the second phase of the Biden administration’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rule. According to the publication, experts expect the rule to face numerous legal challenges.
“Of course, the Phase II rules will be challenged in court, likely in multiple courts, around the country,” said Wagner, adding that the rule’s opponents will not favor the new mitigation enforcement requirements, and climate and environmental justice considerations. He also mentioned that the same group will also likely take issue with a provision that will require the agency to consider “reasonable alternatives not within the jurisdiction of the lead agency.”
Wagner noted that environmentalists’ challenges to the 2020 NEPA rollbacks imposed by the Trump administration were dismissed on procedural grounds. He also explained that “it is far from certain whether new litigation after the final rule’s effective date (approximately the 4th of July) will be successful,” noting challenges to NEPA rollbacks that were dismissed four years ago.
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