As expected, the new Trump White House has issued a flurry of executive orders (EOs) which directly affect the federal government's policies on a broad range of environmental and natural resources issues.
We have identified and summarized the key EOs issued to date, below. It is likely that many of the provisions will be subject to legal challenges by interested stakeholders. Others will likely be impacted by future agency administrative actions, personnel decisions, and federal court rulings in pending litigation.
Executive Order: Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements
- This EO requires the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, as well as any agreement, pact, accord, or similar commitment made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Development and negotiation of any future international agreements must not unduly or unfairly burden the U.S. Any purported financial commitment made by the U.S. under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change must also cease or be revoked, including the U.S. International Climate Finance Plan. Relevant agencies and departments must submit a report detailing their actions to revoke or rescind policies that were implemented to advance the International Climate Finance Plan, as well as other actions to enforce the policy statements of the EO.
- The U.S., Iran, and Yemen are the only countries in the world that are now not a party to the Paris Agreement. The implications of the U.S. posture are unclear but could lead to greater uncertainties concerning signatory nations' implementation of responsibilities negotiated under the agreement.
Executive Order: Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government's Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects
- This EO takes drastic action to curtail any federal action promoting wind energy on the Offshore Continental Shelf (OCS). It withdraws all areas of the OCS from wind energy leasing under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, puts consideration of permits and leases for wind energy on hold, and requires new review of wind leasing and permitting, including review of existing wind energy leases.
- Actions are not limited to offshore wind energy development. The EO requires the secretary of the interior to impose a temporary moratorium on all activities related to the onshore Lava Ridge Wind Project in Idaho and gives the attorney general authority to request courts reviewing the federal leasing or permitting of onshore or offshore wind projects to stay or delay litigation.
- Section 1 withdraws from disposition for wind energy leasing all areas within the OCS under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1341(a). This withdrawal temporarily prevents the consideration of any area in the OCS for new or renewed wind energy leases but does not apply to leasing related to other purposes (traditional oil and gas, or conservation). Under this EO, the secretary of the interior must conduct a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of ending or amending existing wind energy leases and identifying any legal bases for such removal.
- Section 2 calls for the temporary cessation and immediate review of federal wind leasing and permitting projects. Under this section, the secretary of the interior, the secretary of agriculture, the secretary of energy, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of all other relevant agencies cannot issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending the completion of a comprehensive assessment and review of federal wind leasing and permitting practices.
- The DOI, DOE, and EPA are also required to assess the environmental impact and cost to surrounding communities of "defunct and idle windmills."
- This EO could be challenged by companies and other entities with existing offshore lease rights, and/or by states that have promoted offshore wind as a component of their overall energy supply.
Executive Order: Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential
- This EO lays out three goals:
- Maximize Alaska's natural resources on both federal and state lands
- Expedite permitting
- Prioritize Alaska's liquified natural gas potential, domestically and abroad
- To meet these goals, federal agencies are required to take various actions, including:
- Rescinding regulations that impede resource development in Alaska
- Withdrawing orders and impact statements restricting oil and gas leasing
- Reinstating prior environmental policies favorable to resource development
- Placing moratoriums on decisions that may interfere with Alaska's development
- Under this EO, specific development projects have also been given a green light or priority to facilitate economic growth, such as the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, the Ambler Road Project, and idled Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) development projects.
- As this EO seeks to reorient already completed administrative decisions and environmental analyses, it almost certainly will face legal challenges by existing and interested parties in ongoing litigation concerning the identified projects.
Executive Order: Unleashing American Energy
- This EO completely overhauls the prior administration's approach to energy development, decarbonization, and other related infrastructure policies. Its policy statements focus on eliminating perceived mandates for the promotion of electric vehicles (EVs) and other programs that had incorporated climate goals into energy exploration and production.
- Section 3 requires each agency head to review and identify all existing policies and regulations that unduly burden domestic energy production or conflict with the EO. The order then directs all agency heads to suspend, revise, or rescind those identified policies within 30 days and provide a written statement to the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of such findings. To ensure a streamlined process, Section 3 also requires litigation coordination with agency heads and the U.S. attorney general to seek stays or delays in pending litigation that may interfere with the energy regulatory efforts.
- Section 4 both abolishes certain programs and revokes a myriad of EOs related to climate change and environmental justice established from 2021 to 2023 and is duplicative of other EOs.
- Section 5 specifically targets efficient environmental permitting processes. Under this section, the EO revokes a 1977 EO on environmental quality issued under then-President Carter and directs the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to issue guidance on implementing NEPA and to propose rescinding current NEPA regulations, to be replaced with rapid permitting guidance. This one provision could have a lasting impact on the CEQ's role in implementing NEPA across all federal agencies.
- Section 6 requires agencies to adhere only to their relevant legislative environmental requirements and considerations and eliminate all consideration beyond that scope. This provision seems focused again on climate initiatives. To that end, Section 6 abolishes the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (IWG) and withdraws any and all guidance, instructions, recommendations, or documents issued by the group.
- Section 7 terminates the Green New Deal and immediately pauses the disbursement of funds allocated through the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including but not limited to funds for EV charging stations and other climate-related projects. This provision will likely be challenged under the federal Anti-Impoundment legislation.
- Sections 8 and 9, respectively, require the secretary of energy to restart liquified natural gas export project reviews and require various agency heads to revise or rescind rules that impose undue burdens on domestic mining.
- This sweeping EO seeks to fast-track permits for new energy infrastructure projects and lays the foundation for the reduction or rescission of related agency regulations.
Executive Order: Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing
- This EO targets federal environmental justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. It seeks to first identify all such federal programs and requires OMB, Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the attorney general to coordinate their termination. The administration has already issued a directive placing all employees in perceived DEI programs on administrative leave with notice of likely reductions in force. The EO applies to all federal employees, contractors, and grantees.
- Section 2 requires each agency, department, or commission head to send OMB a list of all DEI and environmental justice positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures within 60 days and, to the extent permitted by law, to terminate all such offices and positions across the federal government.
- It is unclear how the government's responsibilities under Title II of the Civil Rights Act will be enforced under these directives. While the administration has discretion to terminate generic equity programs or initiatives, it is likely that stakeholders will challenge this EO based on continued statutory prohibitions against discrimination under the Civil Rights Act.
Executive Order: Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity
- An additional EO expanded on the administration's first DEI policy statements with a major reorientation of how the nation's civil rights laws may be interpreted. Most of the provisions here address federal hiring, contracting, and financial assistance. However, one provision directly impacts whether agencies may consider environmental justice issues in their project NEPA reviews and permitting decisions.
- Section 3 revokes the 1994 EO 12898 issued by President Clinton that first established the policy to assess how federal decision-making could impact low-income and minority populations. Since 1994, environmental justice analyses have been routinely included in most major infrastructure environmental impact statements and environmental assessments. Those practices had never been codified until the Biden CEQ issued its Phase 2 NEPA regulations expressly recognizing environmental justice concerns. Between the revocation of the Clinton-era EO, and the likely revisitation of the CEQ NEPA regulations generally, it is highly likely that the federal government will no longer mandate consideration of environmental justice impacts.
Executive Order: Declaring a National Energy Emergency
- This EO directs the heads of federal departments and agencies to identify and exercise any lawful authorities available (including emergency authorities) in order to facilitate the production or processing of energy, and to expedite the completion of all authorized and appropriated infrastructure, energy, environmental, and natural resources projects.
- Section 2 instructs heads of agencies to identify and exercise any lawful authorities available in order to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources. "Energy resources" is defined to exclude most renewable energy. It also directs the EPA to consider issuing emergency fuel waivers to allow the year-round sale of E15 gasoline in order to meet any projected temporary shortfalls in domestic gasoline supply.
- Section 3 tasks agencies with identifying and using all available authorities to facilitate the supply, refining, and transportation of energy in and through the West Coast, the Northeast, and Alaska.
- Section 4 specifically addresses existing emergency regulations and nationwide permits under the Clean Water Act and other statutes administered by the Army Corps of Engineers. It directs agencies to use any available Army Corps permitting provisions to facilitate the nation's energy supply, and requires the heads of all agencies to develop a summary report within 30 days of all planned or potential actions that are subject to emergency treatment.
- Section 5 specifically addresses existing emergency regulations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Similar to Section 4, it directs agencies to identify and prepare a report within 30 days of planned or potential actions to facilitate the nation's energy supply that may be subject to such regulations, and then use these regulations to the maximum extent possible to facilitate the energy supply.
- Section 6 requires the secretary of the interior to convene a quarterly meeting of the Endangered Species Act Committee to consider any opportunities to excuse consultation obligations imposed by Section 7 of the ESA.
- Section 7 directs the secretary of defense to work with the secretaries of interior and energy to assess the Defense Department's "ability to acquire and transport the energy, electricity, or fuels needed to protect the homeland and to conduct operations abroad" and identify any vulnerabilities. The Defense Department is required to submit the assessment to the president for National Security Affairs within 60 days.
- This EO will allow the administration to fast-track permits for new energy infrastructure projects based expressly on executive powers applicable in emergencies. Challenges to the scope of this EO will likely focus on the definition of an "emergency" and will be subject to the new Loper Bright standard for agency interpretations of statutory authority.
Executive Order: Regulatory Freeze Pending Review
- This EO halts the federal rulemaking process for all agencies, including EPA, and may delay the effective date of rules that have already been published in the Federal Register but have not yet taken effect.
- This EO prevents all executive departments and agencies from proposing or issuing any rule until a department or agency head appointed or designated by President Trump (or their delegate) reviews and approves the rule. An exception applies for rules deemed necessary to address emergency situations or other urgent circumstances.
- This EO also withdraws any rules that have been sent to the Office of the Federal Register but have not yet been published in the Federal Register. For rules that have been published in the Federal Register but have not yet taken effect, this section asks agencies to consider postponing the effective date by 60 days.
- Regulatory freezes are relatively common practice when a new administration takes office. Similar EOs were issued by President Obama in 2009 and President Trump during his first term.
Executive Order: Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions
- This EO revokes 78 executive orders and memoranda issued by the Biden administration, largely focused on actions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration policies, and many of the environmental and DEI policies discussed above.
- Section 3 directs the director of the Domestic Policy Council, the director of the National Economic Council, and the national security advisor to review actions taken under the rescinded executive actions in order to identify any additional actions that can be rescinded, replaced, or amended.
If you have questions about any of these and other executive orders, please contact the authors or anyone in Venable's Environmental Practice.