California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Aug. 28, accusing it of failing to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
The complaint, which seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, named the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ )and CEQ chairwoman Mary B. Neumayr, who was appointed by President Trump in January 2019.
“Under the current administration, CEQ seeks to derail NEPA by issuing a final rule that rewrites CEQ’s enduring regulations implementing NEPA at the expense of the environment and the people it is meant to protect—including state plaintiffs’ residents, wildlife and natural resources,” wrote attorney Joshua R. Purtle in the complaint on behalf of Becerra.
The legal action was filed in response to a federal environmental rule that was changed July 15 and which loosens the law, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“All too often we are trying to be the pioneer of the new and green economy and unfortunately there are many unintended consequences with that,” said National Federation of Independent Business California state director John Kabateck. “There are layers of regulations and rules and overreach by our government that thwarts responsible development and growth in our communities and leads to higher costs.”
Filed in the Northern District of California, Becerra is joined by other state attorneys general such as Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson who alleges that the alteration will limit public participation in the review process.
“Fewer and weaker federal environmental reviews mean that state agencies in Washington, California, New York and Massachusetts will no longer be able to adopt or incorporate most federal NEPA documents into their own state NEPA review processes because the NEPA documents will no longer satisfy state law, including, for example, requirements that state review include climate impacts and greenhouse gas emissions,” wrote attorney Aurora Janke in the complaint on behalf of Ferguson.
Previously, the review process has allowed state agencies to provide feedback into federal proposals including the project to raise the level of the Shasta Lake reservoir in Northern California.
“What I think we need to do is for the attorney general, the governor and our policymakers to create a green economy that doesn't overreach and harm our small businesses, is affordable for every Californian, doesn't pick favorites with the rich community and stops being so aggressive,” Kabateck told the Southern California Record. “It inhibits people from wanting to invest in this.”
The lawsuit takes issue with the CEQ carving out new exceptions to NEPA’s requirements, redefining “major federal action” to exclude an agency’s failure to act and placing a limit on the remedies available in a NEPA lawsuit
“My point is if the ultimate goal is to create safe, clean, and healthy communities, then why load entrepreneurs and communities with piles of onerous rules, especially during this pandemic?" Kabateck said in an interview. "If anything, policymakers ought to be paving the way for more opportunity and make it easy and convenient as possible for entrepreneurs and employers and workers to get where they need to be, which is out of the hole created by the pandemic.”