Trump planning NEPA unveiling

 From Politico newsletter this morning:

TRUMP PLANNING NEPA UNVEILING: President Donald Trump is expected to reveal final changes to a bedrock environmental permitting law at a mid-July event in a battleground state, industry sources told ME. The sources said the White House hasn't decided exactly where to unveil alterations to the National Environmental Policy Act, which outlines the process for environmental permitting reviews for federal projects. They said the administration believes the public appearance will underscore a desire for Trump, who participated in a January event on proposed changes, to channel his inner builder.

The NEPA changes cleared the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs this week, but it will take some time for the Federal Register to process the changes. Industry sources said it's not exactly clear what has changed between proposed and final versions, adding that Council on Environmental Quality Chairman Mary Neumayr has kept deliberations completely internal. White House spokesman Judd Deere said the White House has no scheduling announcements at this time and would not comment on ongoing rulemaking.

Many expect proposed measures intended to streamline environmental reviews to remain in the final version, said Chad Whiteman, vice president of environmental and regulatory affairs with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has taken the industry lead on NEPA. Those items include deadlines on environmental impact statements and the less cumbersome environmental assessments, more clearly defining what agencies must consider as part of their reviews and designating lead agencies for projects rather than have individual departments each conduct their own separate reviews.

Democrats and Republicans alike have complained of the long permitting process beleaguering everything from renewable power transmission lines to pipelines. But environmentalists and Democrats are concerned the rule could eliminate public input. They're also worried that the proposal's cutting the need to weigh the "cumulative" effects of projects would eliminate climate change considerations, and exacerbate existing environmental justice issues, Christy Goldfuss, the former Obama CEQ chief now at the Center for American Progress, said in Senate testimony on Wednesday.