ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
• Unleashing American Energy o Analysis :
• Permitting : This Executive Order ( EO ) focuses strongly on executive branch efforts to enact permitting reform to accelerate domestic energy projects . Most notably , the revocation of EO 11991 , which gave Council on Environmental Quality ( CEQ ) the authority to issue regulations to implement the National Environmental Policy Act ( NEPA ) aligns with current actions undertaken in the courts , particularly in Marin County Audubon in the D . C . Circuit stating that CEQ does not have the authority to undertake such actions . o Further , this EO seeks to align the scope of NEPA and permitting reviews across federal agencies in order to adhere to statutory requirements . It also empowers federal agencies to pursue general permitting or permitting by rule , allowing for standardized requirements to apply to multiple projects that have similar characteristics . Moreover , as part of the Trump administration ’ s focus on rescinding Biden administration regulations directs the CEQ to propose rescinding the regulations promulgated by this agency to implement NEPA .
• Electric vehicles : Unleashing American Energy also takes aim at the Biden administration ’ s electric vehicle ( EVs ) policies from both a regulatory and a funding standpoint . First , targeting the Biden administration ’ s decision to approve the California Waiver to allow for zero emissions vehicle regulations , the EO instructs the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) to take immediate actions to rescind such decisions .
• IRA and IIJA funds : This EO also targets the funding mechanics for electric vehicles , directing federal agencies to withdraw any subsidies that favor EVs . Further , it immediately pauses the disbursement of additional funds through the Inflation Reduction Act ( IRA ) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ( IIJA ) to allow federal agencies to review the procedures for such funding mechanisms . This pause was anticipated ; however , the language is broad in this EO , which could be read by some agencies as threatening funding that has already been obligated through contractual vehicles . For example , while the EO explicitly lists EV-related programs , the pause could apply to all programs under the IRA and IIJA . If interpreted in this way , this would foreshadow President Trump ’ s threats to impound certain funds appropriated by Congress .
• GHG emissions : Focusing on greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions , the Unleashing American Energy EO directs the EPA Administrator to address inadequacies in the social cost of carbon calculation , the valuation of which is used to derive benefits in certain emissions regulations . The EPA Administrator is also required to submit recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget ( OMB ) regarding the EPA ’ s views on the legality and applicability of the “ endangerment finding ,” the regulation that is the framework for determinations that greenhouse gases endanger the public health and welfare . A revocation of this regulation would be a first step toward limiting EPA ’ s authority under the Clean Air Act .
• LNG export applications : The EO revokes the pause of liquefied natural gas ( LNG ) applications for approval to non-FTA countries at the Department of Energy ( DOE ) and bracewell . com 2