The National Environmental Policy Act or “NEPA” is one of the nation’s bedrock environmental laws. Passed by Congress and signed into law by President Nixon in 1970, NEPA established “a national policy” to, among other things, “encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between [humans and their] environment.”
NEPA has twin goals. First, it aims to ensure that federal agencies carefully consider detailed information regarding the environmental impact of a proposed action before reaching a decision. Second, it ensures that information about a proposal’s environmental impact is made available to members of the public so that they may play a meaningful role in the decision-making process.
At the highest level, NEPA directs federal agencies to think first, then act. SUWA attorneys engage with federal agencies like the Bureau of Land Management on a day-in, day-out basis by reviewing environmental documents prepared according to NEPA, commenting on project proposals, and encouraging SUWA members and supporters to do the same.
The law is far from perfect, but over its more than 55-year history federal agency compliance with NEPA and the regulations implementing that law have undoubtably made for better decisions, both in terms of reduced environmental impacts and how projects are implemented on the ground. We also use the statute to hold agencies accountable and make sure they are considering and disclosing impacts from proposed projects.
All of that is at risk under Trump 2.0.
From his very first day in office, Trump went on the attack and rescinded President Carter’s 1977 executive order that authorized the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to issue regulations detailing how NEPA should be implemented. That was quickly followed by a directive that the CEQ lead a working group to create a low ceiling for NEPA regulations that must be followed by all federal agencies (that is, to create a set of regulations that cannot be further tightened by individual agencies). That work remains underway today.
Trump has also declared several so-called “emergencies”—including a “national energy emergency”—and in doing so authorized several fast-tracked NEPA processes. Some of the first projects to proceed under these alternative processes are in Utah, and SUWA is closely tracking them.
Finally, in late May the U.S. Supreme Court issued a not entirely unexpected but nonetheless terrible opinion in a case involving the proposed Uinta Basin rail line in eastern Utah. The Court held that federal agencies will no longer be required to analyze certain growth-inducing effects from a project if those later-in-time effects are not under the control of the agency or are speculative. With regard to the Uinta Basin rail line, that means the Surface Transportation Board will not be required to analyze upstream (new drilling) or downstream (increased refining) that is very likely to occur as a result of the line being constructed. In fact, those results are the whole point of the line in the first place! The scope and breadth of this decision will become clearer over the next several years as lower courts grapple with its implications.
The bottom line from all of this should come as no surprise: the Trump administration is doing everything in its power to (1) expedite projects it favors, especially fossil fuel development and mining, (2) drive agency decision making to the lowest common denominator with the hope that NEPA compliance amounts to little more than a rubber stamp, and (3) cut out the public as much as possible from understanding and commenting on what agencies are up to. We’re pushing back on all of these fronts and will keep you posted on our progress. Please keep an eye out for ways that you can engage and support this work.
—Steve Bloch
The above article first appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of our Redrock Wilderness newsletter. Become a member to receive our print newsletter in your mailbox 3 times a year.
