Washington (June 5, 2025) – Today, on World Environment Day, Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), co-chairs of the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, released the following statement after a slew of recent actions that drastically undermine the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the country’s bedrock environmental law.

“Between the recent actions by the Trump administration to severely limit the timing of environmental reviews, the Supreme Court’s decision narrowing the scope of environmental reviews, and Republicans’ Big Billionaire Bonus bill that creates a pay to play scheme—industry will have a free pass from all three branches of government to skirt the law that keeps our communities and planet healthy. Instead of gutting a seminal environmental law and cutting agency funding to implement it, we should be investing resources and personnel to more quickly conduct meaningful environmental reviews. Republicans in both chambers are fulfilling Trump’s wish to completely dismantle the safeguards that allow for well-informed federal decision-making—putting the American public, our wildlife, the health of our natural landscapes, and our collective livable future at risk.”

Since January 2025, enforcement and implementation of NEPA has been subject to attacks from all three branches of government:

Trump Administration

The Trump administration has cut federal employees and funding intended for expedited yet meaningful NEPA reviews.

• On May 23, the administration rubberstamped a mine in just 11 days despite similar projects with complex proposals typically taking two years to meaningfully review, and

• On May 28, Trump appointed the architect of the provisions that severely limited the timing of NEPA reviews in the Fiscal Responsibility Act to head the Permitting Council (formerly the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council).

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court unanimously limited the scope of environmental reviews required by NEPA on May 29.

Congress

House and Senate Republicans proposed budget reconciliation text that:

• Would allow project sponsors to pay for preferential treatment in NEPA environmental review processes and prohibit judicial review of environmental findings for these projects, and

• Would repeal and rescind environmental review funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, Council on Environmental Quality, and state and local permitting authorities that would have enabled more efficient, accurate, and timely reviews under NEPA.

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