Joe Biden is a F***&&&& liar Biden Administrat
Post# of 123789
Biden Administration Restores Stricter Environmental Reviews....WSJ
Throwing more sand in the gears. Good timing. But that's their strong suit.
Of course everything gets more expensive, takes longer, and maybe just won't get done at all. Medium to LT supply constraining regs so bullish for energy longs.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administrat..._lead_pos6
WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is restoring stricter environmental standards for approving new pipelines, highways, power plants and other construction projects, including requiring consideration of how such projects might affect climate change.
The changes announced Tuesday reinstate National Environmental Policy Act measures that had been removed by former President Donald Trump, who said that federal regulations were needlessly hindering much-needed infrastructure projects.
Under the stricter reviews, federal agencies must take into account the cumulative impacts that a project or a new proposed federal regulation would have in areas such as air and water quality, wildlife habitat and climate change, according to a White House statement. The new guidelines widen the scope of environmental reviews beyond direct and indirect effects.
The Trump administration had deleted from the regulations the definition of cumulative effects, which called on regulators to take into account long-term impacts such as frequent exposure to toxic air. Environmental groups said that absence of that definition confused regulators on whether to analyze those effects.
“Restoring these basic community safeguards will provide regulatory certainty, reduce conflict, and help ensure that projects get built right the first time,” Brenda Mallory, chairwoman of the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, which helps federal agencies abide by the 1970s law that governs the review process.
No change was made to rules adopted under Mr. Trump that require full environmental-impact statements to be completed within two years and less comprehensive reviews to be finished within one year.
The American Petroleum Institute and several other oil and gas groups also objected to requiring cumulative effects as a measure, saying that the new rules could impede projects needed to build pipelines to natural-gas export terminals and satisfy global energy demands.
“The administration’s infrastructure achievements are likely to be mired in unnecessarily protracted agency reviews that could delay their approval for multiple years,” API said.
Matthew Davis, senior director of government affairs of the League of Conservation Voters disagreed, saying government approvals are often faulted for holding up projects when other factors such as funding delays are the real cause.
“It’s convenient to blame permitting, but that’s not usually the case,” he said.
White House officials said they plan to propose another round of review-process changes in the next few months.
JMHO