February 23, 2021 | less than a minute read

Initial Climate Change Regulations

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Jacob H. Hupart

Member

Get in touch

Jacob H. Hupart

Member

The Biden Administration's focus on climate change and its impacts is beginning to be reflected in government policy. Climate change impacts will now be considered when federal agencies assess significant infrastructure projects.

Although this particular regulation simply reinstates a regulation dating from the Obama Administration that the Trump Administration had revoked, it is indicative of the thrust of the Biden Administration's regulatory initiatives, which profess to enact policies to reflect the impact and concerns raised by climate change.

More regulations along these lines should be expected in the coming months.

The Biden administration on Thursday revoked a Trump administration policy that aimed to prevent federal agencies from weighing climate change impacts in their decision-making around major projects like pipelines and highways. The White House Council for Environmental Quality revoked the Trump administration's 2019 draft National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidance for greenhouse gas emissions, which had rolled back an Obama-era policy here that required agencies to evaluate the climate change impacts of major infrastructure projects in their reviews.