This is an archive of our work analyzing environmental rollback actions of the Trump administration. This list does not reflect the additional analysis available in our EPA Mission Tracker (which includes additional topics such as environmental justice, EPA’s cost benefit rule, and the numerous actions taken that changed the way the agency considers science in the regulatory process, among others). You can also find more detail on additional Trump-era deregulatory activity on our Regulatory Tracker.
Jan. 28, 2021 EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule: Examining Challenges and Prospects Daniel Eyal, JD 2023
Jan. 25, 2021Section 401 of the Clean Water Act from Trump to BidenPeter Kalicki, JD 2022
Jan. 13, 2021 Deconstructing Environmental Deregulation Under the Trump Administration, Hannah Perls in the Vermont Law Review
Nov. 3, 2020 Forest Service Proposal Deemphasizes Environmental Concerns to Streamline Oil and Gas Leasing Process, Lindsay Williams, JD 2022
October 22, 2020 Weighing the Risks of Using the CRA to Restore EPA’s Methane Standards, Ari Sillman, JD 2021
October 15, 2020 Managing Public Lands under the Trump Administration and Beyond Eric Wriston, JD 2022, Joe Goffman, Laura Bloomer, Peter Daniels, JD 2021
Sept. 9, 2020 EPA’s Final Methane Emissions Rules Roll Back Standards and Statutory Authority, Hana Vizcarra
July 14, 2020 EPA’s Benefit-Cost Proposal in the Context of PM Pollution Regulation, Joe Goffman and Laura Bloomer
May 6, 2020 Interior Rolls Out Controversial E-Bikes Rules, Peter Daniels, JD 2021
May 4, 2020 Deepwater Horizon Ten Years Later: Reviewing agency and regulatory reforms, Hana Vizcarra
April 30, 2020 Defending Science and Collaborative Conservation: Sage-Grouse and Western Watersheds Project v. Schneider (D. Idaho 2019), Peter Daniels, JD 2021
April 23, 2020 How to Undo the Trump-Era Regulatory Rollbacks to Redo Environmental Protection, Cole Jermyn, JD 2021, and Laura Bloomer
April 16, 2020 Backgrounder: Appropriate & Necessary Finding – Mercury & Air Toxics (MATS)
April 14, 2020 When Industry Support for Stricter Regulation is Good Business: Considering the Car Rules and Methane Standards, Martin Levy, JD 2020
April 6, 2020 Comprehensive Car Rules Overview
February 26, 2020 Three Years After— Where Does Implementation of the Lautenberg Act Stand? Kevin McLean
February 14, 2020 How Statutory Interpretation of the Clean Air Act Serves the Trump Administration’s Deregulatory Agenda, Joe Goffman and Laura Bloomer
January 28, 2020 The Coal Ash Rule Trilogy Spanning Obama, Trump, and the D.C. Circuit, Katherine Clements, JD 2021
October 31, 2019 EPA’s Attack on New Source Review and Other Air Quality Protection Tools, Joe Goffman, Janet McCabe, William Niebling
October 22, 2019 EPA’s House of Cards: the Affordable Clean Energy Rule”>, Joe Goffman and Caitlin McCoy
September 30, 2019 The Legal Consequences of EPA’s Disruption of the NAAQS Process, Joe Goffman and Laura Bloomer
August 28, 2019 Analysis of the Regulation and Deregulation of U.S. Ocean and Fisheries Policies, Hana Vizcarra and Laura Bloomer
August 5, 2019 Closing the Door on EPA Jurisdiction over Groundwater, Caitlin McCoy
August 2019 What’s at Stake in the Trump EPA’s Approach to New Source Review?, Janet McCabe, Joe Goffman, and William Niebling
July 26, 2019 Looking Forward from California’s Historic Agreement with Automakers, Caitlin McCoy
June 28, 2019 California’s First Legal Battle over the New Car Rules, Caitlin McCoy
April 30, 2019 Energy EOs In Depth (a series)
- Infrastructure EO Section 5 (ESG Section), More Bluster than Substance?, Hana Vizcarra
- Administration Opaque on Why It’s Studying Regional Energy Bottlenecks, Ari Peskoe
- New Presidential Permit for Keystone XL and Changes to Presidential Permitting, Caitlin McCoy
- The Trump Administration’s Efforts to Restrict State Authority in the Water Quality Certification Process, Ari Sillman, JD 2021
March 14, 2019 Rolling Back the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards: Proposed Withdrawal of “Appropriate and Necessary” by Joe Goffman
January/February 2019 Kavanaugh’s Ascent Is Enormously Significant for Environmental Law. The Environmental Forum. Richard Lazarus explores the potential consequences of Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment on environmental law based on the numerous environmental cases in which he participated on the D.C. Circuit.
Jan. 10, 2019 How Congress Can Curb the Dismantling of the Environmental Protection Agency: An Oversight Agenda by Joe Goffman
Dec. 10, 2018 Issue Backgrounder: Definition of Waters of the U.S. Caitlin McCoy prepared a background memo in anticipation of the release of EPA’s proposed rule redefining Waters of the U.S. on Dec. 11, 2018 with relevant background information and what to expect from the proposal.
Nov.-Dec. 2018 Reconstruct an Administrative Agency, Environmental Law Forum, by Executive Director Joe Goffman examines the structures that Scott Pruitt dismantled during his tenure at EPA.
Nov. 5, 2018 Beyond the Waiver: EPA’s Plan to End State GHG Vehicle Standards, by HLS student Michelle Melton (JD ’19), examines how the administration’s proposed new greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars reinterpret CAA § 177, stripping the states beyond California of their ability to adopt greenhouse gas standards for vehicles in their jurisdictions
Oct. 29, 2018 Memorandum on EPA’s Proposed Changes in New Source Review in ACE. Staff Attorney Hana Vizcarra provides an outline of the Trump administration’s proposed changes to the Clean Air Act New Source Review program and analysis of the legal arguments and impacts.
Oct. 11, 2018 Memorandum on the proposal to repeal the Clean Power Plan and the proposed ACE Rule provides an outline of the arguments advanced in i) the proposal to repeal the Clean Power Plan (CPP) and ii) the proposed Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Existing Electric Utility Generating Units, part of the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule.
Sept. 28, 2018 Memorandum on EPA Review of the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards. This Issue Backgrounder provides an early look at potential changes to the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards and possible resulting pollution impacts and provides important background on the rule itself and the legal issues involved.
Aug. 24, 2018 CAFE Standards and the California Preemption Plan. This legal memorandum walks through the preemption analysis laid out in EPA and NHTSA’s proposed rules for fuel economy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards to explain how the agencies are approaching the issue.
June 19, 2018 California, CAFE Standards, and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. This legal memorandum examines the law of exemption under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and how it impacts EPA and NHTSA actions concerning fuel economy and vehicle emissions standards.
October 20, 2017 Arkema Chemical Plant & the 2017 Risk Management Program Amendments, by Laura Bloomer and Kate Konschnik.
July / August 2017 Will Justice Gorsuch on Water Act Prove Different Than Scalia Would?, The Environmental Forum. Professor Richard Lazarus, Howard and Katherine Aibel Professor of Law, examines what effect Justice Gorsuch’s appointment might have on the outcome of this case, and on environmental law itself, in his recent article for The Environmental Forum.