By Eddie C. Lewis and Bob Greenslade
How the Biden Administration Will Impact Environmental Law
O
ver the prior four years, the Trump administration made innumerable changes to the broad legal landscape that comprises environmental law. Many of the changes may prove to be shortlived because President Biden has directed all agencies to review and take action to address federal regulations and other actions taken during the prior four years that conflict with his environmental objectives. Accordingly, every executive branch environmental action in the prior four years is at risk of reconsideration, amendment, or revocation. Due to the massive scale of issues under consideration by the new administration, this article does not identify all discrete issues for which changes are
known or anticipated. Instead, we attempt to identify themes and broad areas of focus expected from the administration, along with a few examples of significant, discrete issues. These focus areas include climate change, enforcement, oil and gas, procedural matters, public land use, and social justice. Climate Change Climate change will be a key focus of the administration. As a candidate, Biden promised to achieve a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions by 2050.1 He has since announced John Kerry as Climate Envoy and Gina McCarthy, former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator, as domestic climate coordinator. He also signed an order rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and established a National Climate Task Force.2 Other changes may include: • New GHG Standards. In American Lung Association v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, issued in January 2021, the D.C. Circuit vacated EPA’s GHG standards for coal-fired power plants, holding that the New Source Performance Standard (“NSPS”) provisions in the Clean Air Act are not necessarily limited to measures within the “fenceline” of a plant.3 This opinion could result in the reinstatement of the Obama-era GHG standards, as well as new offset and emissions trading measures for other industries. • Vehicle Fuel Standards. An early 2020 rule relaxed Obama-era fuel economy requirements for automakers by lowering the ramp-up on new vehicle average fuel economy from 5% per year to 1.5% per year. The rule also revoked the Clean Air Act waiver that had previously allowed California to set its own standards (which other states could then adopt). The Biden administration is expected to undo the new rule.4 • Appliance Efficiency. In January
