The Biden administration’s rewrite of the nation’s environmental permitting rules is heightening expectations for follow-up guidance telling agencies how to consider the climate impacts of proposed projects.
The Council on Environmental Quality has said it wants to move ahead with guidance this year, after plans issued during the Obama administration were scuttled under President Donald Trump. The agency’s new rule on the National Environmental Policy Act, issued Tuesday, requires federal agencies to consider the climate change impacts of infrastructure projects, land management efforts, and many other activities.
Clear instructions will provide legal heft to agency decisions on projects, helping seal ...