WASHINGTON, D.C. — Newly finalized regulations on how federal decision-makers implement the National Environmental Policy Act — a law that ensures experts and community members can provide input on pipelines, highways, and other large-scale projects — presses the reset button on damaging changes instituted during the previous presidential administration. The new regulations correct some of the most harmful changes made to long-standing, protective regulations.

The National Wildlife Federation urged the Biden Administration to reverse the remaining Trump-era rollbacks and then add additional protections to ensure that federal decision-makers implement the law to safeguard people and wildlife, protect clean drinking water and air, and address historic and ongoing environmental injustices.

“The National Environmental Policy Act is foundational to helping federal policymakers look before they leap when making decisions on large-scale projects,” said Mustafa Santiago Ali, vice president of environmental justice, climate, and community revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation. “This finalized rule marks an important first step, but the Biden Administration still has work to do to ensure federal decision-makers prioritize the input of frontline and historically marginalized communities and fully restore the National Environmental Policy Act.”