President Donald Trump’s recent executive order directing federal government agencies to waive environmental regulations and to take other actions necessary to streamline and expedite infrastructure projects was designed to help hasten the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The order includes surface transportation projects as well as infrastructure, energy, environmental and natural resources projects on federal lands. It effectively does away with the responsibility for federal agencies to abide by regulations established by laws like the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act and aims to speed up public works projects that will create jobs.
