President Trump Redefines Federal Environmental Policy Through His First Day of Executive Orders

• Tommy Beaudreau, Peggy Otum, Shannon Morrissey, Paul Caintic, Tiana Wilson-Blindman
• 1.27.2025

Hours after his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed 26 executive orders (EOs). These EOs rescinded 80 prior executive actions issued by President Joe Biden’s Administration, including several that were key to President Biden’s energy, environmental and natural resource agendas. Through his EOs, President Trump has established a clear framework for how the new administration intends to shape US environmental policy. As anticipated, President Trump once again withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, is seeking to ease regulatory burdens for development of energy projects, and is reevaluating President Biden’s initiatives relating to environmental justice and the expansion of electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. Below is a summary of five key EOs that may shape environmental policy for the next four years.

1. Unleashing American Energy. This omnibus EO contains dozens of directives aimed at reducing regulatory burdens on energy producers and encouraging energy exploration and production on federal lands and in federal waters. The EO broadly requires the heads of all agencies to review regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders and “any other agency actions” to identify those that impose an “undue burden” on the development or use of domestic energy resources—with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical minerals and nuclear energy. The EO then orders the agencies to initiate actions to suspend, revise or rescind unduly burdensome actions. The EO also requires agencies to notify the attorney general of any actions pursuant to the order so that the Department of Justice (DOJ) may pause or resolve any ongoing litigation involving such actions. The EO sets out a nearly identical direction for burdens on domestic mining and processing of nonfuel materials.

On the environmental front, the EO directs the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)—the federal entity responsible for overseeing implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)—to take actions to “streamlin[e] the judicial review of the application of NEPA.” Among other things, the EO rescinds a much older EO, EO 11991 from the Carter Administration, that set out how CEQ was to provide guidance on NEPA environmental review processes. The EO seeks to expedite NEPA reviews and permitting processes and directs CEQ to “prioritize efficiency and certainty over any other objectives, including those of activist groups, that do not align with the [stated] policy goals” or that “could otherwise add delays and ambiguity to the permitting process.”

The EO not only eases regulatory requirements but also seeks to cut or halt programs that were key elements of President Biden’s environmental and climate agenda. For example, the EO orders agencies to immediately freeze any funds appropriated in two Biden-era congressional enactments: the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This freeze includes any funds for EV charging stations through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program or the Charging and Fuel Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program. The EO further rescinds all 12 EOs issued by President Biden that addressed climate change, environmental justice, EVs, the Inflation Reduction Act and sustainability. It also terminates the American Climate Corps. The EO then orders that any contract or agreement that the government entered into to advance the goals of Biden’s EOs be terminated as quickly as legally permissible.  

Finally, the EO directs US Secretaries and agency heads to eliminate delays in respective permitting processes, using all available methods, including general permits. For projects deemed crucial to the nation’s economy and national security, agencies should specifically expedite permitting processes, to include using emergency authorities.

Many of the directives in this EO are not self-executing, and it will take some time for agencies to both propose and implement specific deregulatory actions. For some actions, agencies will have to undergo months-long public notice and comment procedures before revising or rescinding existing regulations. The DOJ may seek stays of litigation while the administration reassesses both its enforcement actions and whether it will continue to defend agency actions taken during the Biden Administration. Companies seeking environmental permits or other federal approvals should monitor shifting regulatory requirements as they materialize over the coming months. Parties engaged in active litigation involving government approvals should expect to see requests to stay cases or even to remand or vacate the challenged agency action. Parties should also assess whether any government funding they were set to receive will be frozen by the EO.

2. Declaring a National Energy Emergency. This EO directs agencies to utilize emergency powers to increase domestic energy production, including, but not limited to that on federal lands. Of note, the EO directs all agencies to consider using the powers of eminent domain or the Defense Production Act to advance these goals. The EO gives specific instructions to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider issuing emergency fuel waivers to allow the year-round sale of E15 gasoline under the Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standards program. Additionally, it directs EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to consider the use of emergency powers to expedite permitting and approvals for energy projects under section 404 of the Clean Water Act, section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, and section 103 of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act. All agencies are also directed to consider emergency powers to expedite the Endangered Species Act’s consultation requirements.

3. Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential. This EO focuses on increasing domestic energy production in Alaska. In particular, it directs agencies to prioritize the development of Alaska’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) potential, including the sale and transportation of Alaskan LNG across the United States and to allied nations within the Pacific. The heads of all executive departments and agencies are directed to rescind, revoke, revise or defer any agency actions that are inconsistent with these goals and to prioritize the development of Alaska’s LNG potential through prioritizing all necessary pipeline and export infrastructure related to the Alaska LNG project. 

In addition to these broad goals, the EO orders specific directives aimed at lifting restrictions on Alaskan energy production, including Biden Administration actions related to oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

4. Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing. This EO orders each agency to terminate all environmental justice offices and positions, to the maximum extent allowed by law. It further directs the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to compile a list of all environmental justice positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets and expenditures. OMB is then directed to assess their social and economic costs, including how they affected the government’s enforcement activities, consent orders and litigating positions. The Biden Administration established both the DOJ’s Office of Environmental Justice and the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and Civil Rights—both of which were tasked with advancing President Biden’s environmental justice agenda.

5. Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions. This EO rescinded several of President Biden’s EOs directed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion and what the EO describes as “climate extremism.” The EO specifically rescinds President Biden’s EO 13990, titled Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. President Trump’s EO further rescinded EO 14096, in which President Biden established a “Government Wide Approach to Environmental Justice.”

Conclusion

While generally not self-executing, EOs can be powerful directions to the executive branch, with practical effects on how government agencies will pursue their mandates and interact with the regulated community. The WilmerHale team will continue to track these developments.