For instance, Trump’s EPA is close to finalizing two measures that could make it harder to impose pollution curbs. One would block the agency from relying on scientific research that isn’t or can’t be made public. Another would limit how the agency calculates the costs and benefits of future regulations.
It’s customary for administrations to finalize a spate of rules during their final months in office, with a final spurt of so-called midnight regulations.
“One big difference from the recent past is that because Trump is only a one-term president, there is more for EPA to rush to finalize then when we’ve had two-term presidents,” observed Amit Narang, a regulatory policy expert with the watchdog group Public Citizen. “But there is a real risk that anything EPA rushes out the door in sloppy fashion will get struck down in court, just like so many of EPA’s rollbacks under Trump have been.”
Though Inauguration Day is still nine weeks away, the regulatory clock may run out sooner. The enforcement of any final rules that haven’t become binding by Jan. 20 can be postponed by a new administration, buying time for a rewrite. Because there is a 60-day waiting period for major rules to come into force, the Trump administration actually needs to get those measures published in the Federal Register by Nov. 21.
Federal Register
The EPA already is trying to beat that clock with an air permitting regulation teed up for publication in the Federal Register on Nov. 19, just two days before the cutoff.
The push goes beyond well-telegraphed rules to permitting decisions and project approvals that may be harder to undo.
For example, the Interior Department is fast-tracking a proposal to conduct seismic surveys in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — an industrial operation designed to help pinpoint possible oil reserves that environmentalists say risks scarring the tundra and trampling polar bears in snow-covered dens.
Adam Kolton, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League said he’s deeply concerned the Interior Department is trying “to jam this massive seismic program through in the final minutes of the Trump administration,” without enough environmental review and against the wishes of the American people. “It’s Defcon one on the level of concern list,” Kolton added.
Last-Minute Push
While regulations can be undone, the Biden administration could not repair damage if heavy seismic vehicles roll into to the refuge and begin work, Kolton said. “If you want to throw a hand grenade in the middle of the Interior Department transition team, this would be the way to do it,” he said.
The Trump administration is also advancing plans to sell drilling rights in the refuge before Jan. 20. It’s not clear that the Interior Department would have time to formally issue any leases sold in the final weeks before Inauguration Day, but every step advancing Arctic oil development could complicate a Biden administration retreat.
Oil companies also can expect a few more chances to buy up drilling rights in other parts of the U.S., including during a Trump administration sale of coveted New Mexico territory Jan. 14.
The last-minute push is essential, said Tom Pyle, the president of the American Energy Alliance, a free-market advocacy group that has cheered much of Trump’s deregulatory agenda.
“Even as President Trump and his legal team continue to explore their options, it is critical that his agencies to put a full-court press on getting the remainder of his agenda across the finish line as an insurance policy,” Pyle said. “Joe Biden did not receive a mandate from voters to upend all the gains that President Trump made with respect to our energy independence.”
—With assistance from Ari Natter.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.