End of White House Permitting Rules Leaves Developers Lukewarm

Permitting specialists on both sides of the aisle say they’re not expecting an infrastructure boom now that the White House’s implementing regulations for environmental permitting have been swept away.

The scrubbing of the Council on Environmental Quality’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations, which took effect Friday, aligns with President Donald Trump’s vision of a domestic manufacturing renaissance, making it easier—at least in theory—for developers to get the green light to build factories, pipelines, mines, and other big projects.

But there’s little evidence that big companies are moving to capitalize on the new landscape, according to the lawyers who ...