Environmental lawyers get ready to pounce on Trump’s energy deregulation moves

Valerie Volcovici - Reuters - 22/04
U.S. environmental groups say they are hiring lawyers and preparing for a major legal showdown with President Donald Trump's administration over its rapid-fire and sweeping efforts to sidestep federal regulations on oil, gas and coal development.
  • Administration moves to rapidly slash regulations through new executive orders
  • EPA opens door to exemptions for air, water rules while formally undertakes deregulation process
  • Environmental groups ready to launch legal defense of clean air, water rules
April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. environmental groups say they are hiring lawyers and preparing for a major legal showdown with President Donald Trump's administration over its rapid-fire and sweeping efforts to sidestep federal regulations on oil, gas and coal development.
The preparations will pose a test for the Trump administration’s strategy since January of relying mainly on emergency authorities and executive orders to slash what it views as obstructions to a surge in fossil fuel energy production.

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In the last two weeks, Trump issued an executive order directing agencies to sunset every existing energy regulation by next year and, in a separate memorandum, said those agencies may repeal certain regulations without allowing the public to weigh in.
Federal officials have also notified companies that they can seek exemptions to clean air regulations via email, exempted dozens of companies from mercury and air toxics limits, fast-tracked a controversial oil pipeline tunnel in the Great Lakes, and dispensed with a court-ordered environmental review of thousands of oil and gas leases on federal lands.
Those actions test existing law, attorneys and policy experts said, including the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 that require agencies to publish notices of proposed and final regulations and allow the public to comment on them.
"They really are kicking it into high gear now," Dan Goldbeck, director of regulatory policy at the conservative think tank American Action Forum, said in an interview. "They are trying to push some of these legal doctrines a bit to see if they can implement a new ...
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