Attorney General Bonta: California Continues to Call on Federal Government to Protect and Uphold NEPA, the Cornerstone of America’s Environmental Protections

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a multistate coalition of 20 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter opposing the Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ)’s interim final rule (Repeal Rule), which repeals CEQ's regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the nation’s bedrock environmental law. CEQ's regulations impose uniform requirements for federal agencies complying with NEPA, including analysis and consideration of the environmental impacts of projects that are located on federal land, receive federal funding, or need federal approvals. The Repeal Rule is an unprecedented attempt from the Trump Administration to undermine federal environmental and community protections, aiming to completely eliminate CEQ’s regulations. In today’s comment letter, the state attorneys general argue that the Repeal Rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act, NEPA, and the Endangered Species Act, and will create uncertainty which will delay project approvals, reduce public participation, and lead to less-informed environmental decisions.  

“At every turn, the Trump Administration chips away at the protections that safeguard and improve the environment and the health of all Americans,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This attempt to undermine NEPA is not ‘making American great again,’ rather it endangers public health and the environment. That’s why I, alongside attorneys general across the nation urge the Trump Administration to immediately reverse course from this unlawful rule.” 

CEQ’s regulations implementing NEPA were first adopted in 1978 and remained unchanged for decades. Without CEQ’s NEPA regulations, federal agencies may weaken their environmental review of federal projects and refuse to consider and evaluate potential harmful impacts in California—for example, those related to environmental justice and climate change—in order to expedite project approvals. Eliminating CEQ’s NEPA regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations complicates federal and state coordination on environmental reviews and hinders public involvement in the process. 

In the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta writes that: 

• The current NEPA regulations have successfully safeguarded public health and the environment for decades.
• The 30-day comment period does not provide the public sufficient opportunity to participate in the rulemaking and comment on the proposal. 
• The Repeal Rule is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion” and “without observance of procedure required by law,” violating the Administrative Procedure Act.
• CEQ did not adequately review the possible environmental harms of the Repeal Rule, as required by NEPA and the Endangered Species Act. 
• CEQ’s NEPA rules tell federal agencies how to comply with their statutory requirements under NEPA; eliminating the regulations will not change the statutory requirements, but will cause chaos for environmental review of federal projects. 

Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Harris County, Texas, in sending this comment letter.

A copy of the comment letter can be found here.