Interior Softens Environmental Permitting Rules to Spur Economy

The Interior Department changed its permitting rules Monday to make environmental reviews “faster, more flexible, and more efficient,” the latest move in President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost the fossil fuel and mining sectors.

A final rule issued Monday puts most of Interior’s procedural requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act into a handbook. Previously they existed as rigid regulations that had to be followed, but the new approach turns them into more flexible guidance.

One new section refines the way Interior relies on environmental reviews written by the applicants themselves, or by contractors hired to carry out the ...