Attorney General Bonta: We Must Continue to Protect and Uphold NEPA, the Cornerstone of America’s Environmental Protections

OAKLAND – Co-leading a multistate coalition of 14 attorneys general, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion to intervene in the U.S. District Court for North Dakota to defend the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)'s revised regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the nation’s bedrock environmental law. The CEQ’s rule, finalized on May 1, 2024 (Rule), restores robust environmental review of proposed federal actions, weakened by regulations adopted by the Trump Administration in 2020 (2020 Rule). Currently, the Rule is being challenged by 20 states led by the States of Iowa and North Dakota, which aims to revert to the 2020 Rule, which would cause irreparable harm to the public, wildlife populations and environmental quality.

“Any attempt to undermine NEPA puts our nation at risk of falling further behind in our fight against climate change, environmental harm, and environmental injustice,” said Attorney General Bonta. “That’s why I, alongside attorneys general nationwide, are filing this motion to intervene to defend robust NEPA regulations that not only implement strong environmental protections but provide long-overdue infrastructure updates that benefit our communities and the economy.” 

CEQ’s regulations implementing NEPA were first adopted in 1978 and remained unchanged for decades. However, in 2020, the Trump Administration weakened the regulations by limiting decisionmakers’ and the public’s review of the environmental effects of proposed federal actions, including the permitting of projects that contribute to climate change, like freeways, fossil-fuel fired power plants, and fossil fuel pipelines. The Biden-Harris Administration’s Rule reversed the Trump Administration’s 2020 Rule, which requires federal agencies to consider whether proposed projects will exacerbate climate change and disproportionately impact environmental justice communities, and streamlines NEPA review for environmentally beneficial clean energy projects.

In the motion, the coalition expresses strong support for the Rule, which will:

• Accelerate review for projects geared to bring environmental benefits, such as solar energy storage and electric vehicle chargers, and promote economic growth.
• Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental reviews.
• Protect communities that often bear the brunt of pollution. 

In filing the motion, Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, and the City of New York.

A copy of the motion can be found here.