Executive Orders in Our Rollback Tracker

• Executive Order 13783, issued on March 28, 2017, titled “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth,” directed federal agencies to review and possibly rescind or revise rules and agency actions that impede U.S. energy production. See our rollback tracker page on this executive order and also see our Onshore Extractive Energy Leasing tracker page. President Biden revoked this order on January 20, 2021.
• Executive Order 13792, issued on April 26, 2017, ordered the “Review of Designations Under the Antiquities Act,” and directed the Secretary of the Interior to review all National Monuments (including Marine National Monuments) designated since Jan. 1, 1996 that are at least 100,000 acres or were made “without adequate public outreach and coordination.” We discuss the implications of this on our National Monuments, Marine National Monuments & Marine Sanctuaries tracker page. President Biden revoked this order on January 20, 2021.
• Executive Order 13795, issued on April 28, 2017, on “Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy” ordered the Secretary of Commerce to review all Marine National Monuments and Marine Sanctuaries designated or expanded since 2007, to assess “the opportunity costs associated with potential energy and mineral exploration and production from the Outer Continental Shelf, in addition to any impacts on production in the adjacent regions.” See our rollback tracker page on this executive order and also see discussion of it on our National Monuments, Marine National Monuments & Marine Sanctuaries tracker page and our Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling – Regulatory Changes page. President Biden revoked this order on January 20, 2021.
• Executive Order 13807, issued on August 15, 2017, established the “One Federal Decision” approach to NEPA reviews for major infrastructure projects, requiring each project to have a single lead agency for the environmental review process and establishing a goal of two years to complete environmental reviews. Visit our National Environmental Policy Act tracker page for more information on subsequent agency action in response to this order. President Biden revoked this order on January 20, 2021.
• Executive Order 13840, “Ocean Policy to Advance the Economic, Security, and Environmental Interests of the United States” was issued on June 19, 2018. This EO revokes the 2010 executive order that emphasized environmental stewardship and created the National Ocean Policy, and redirects Federal ocean policy towards a focus on economic growth and national security, rather than preserving the ecological health of the ocean. See our rollback tracker page on this executive order.
• Executive Order 13867, “Issuance of Permits with Respect to Facilities and Land Transportation Crossings at the International Boundaries of the United States,” was issued on April 10, 2019. It establishes a new process for issuing presidential permits for cross-border infrastructure, including pipelines. It revokes previous Executive Orders 11423 and 13337 that provided a process for approving such projects and makes it clear that the president is the final decisionmaker on whether or not to issue a permit. See our rollback tracker page on this executive order.
• Executive Order 13868, titled “Executive Order on Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Energy Growth,” was issued on April 10, 2019, and included 10 provisions that the former administration hoped would speed up energy infrastructure projects in line with its focus on energy dominance and increased production. See our rollback tracker page on this executive order. President Biden revoked this order on January 20, 2021.

Legal Analyses of Energy Executive Orders

President Trump signed two executive orders on April 10, 2019 in Crosby, Texas, outside of Houston: EO 13868 “on Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Energy Growth,” and EO 13867 on “the Issuance of Permits with Respect to Facilities and Land Transportation Crossings at the International Boundaries of the United States.”  (President Biden revoked EO 13868 on January 20, 2021.) These orders focus on energy, but have provisions that extend into many areas of law and policy. We’ve analyzed some of the key elements of these orders and their implications in four posts:

• Electricity Law Initiative Director Ari Peskoe looks at natural gas constraints into New England and fossil fuel export limitations on the west coast and wonders why the Administration has ordered studies on these regional energy bottlenecks in Executive Order 13868, Sec. 7.
• Staff Attorney Hana Vizcarra analyzes Executive Order 13868 Section 5 on the use of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors in energy sector investment and discusses whether it is more bluster than substance.
• Climate, Clean Air, & Energy Fellow Caitlin McCoy discusses how Executive Order 13867 changes cross-border permitting and the new presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.
• HLS student Ari Sillman describes Trump’s efforts in Section 3 of Executive Order 13868 to restrict state authority in the water quality certification process and provides background on current EPA regulations and guidance for this process.