Justice Department Tosses Trump-Era Environmental Directives

The Justice Department has withdrawn a series of Trump-era policies that constrain the agency’s environmental enforcement tools.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams, a career official who is currently leading DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, issued a memo Thursday eliminating a series of directives from Trump appointees, including an unpopular ban on settlement devices called a supplemental environmental projects, or SEPs.

The move is part of a major shift expected in how the Justice Department enforces the nation’s environmental statutes.

Williams cited President Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 executive order directing agencies to “immediately review” regulations and other agency ...