Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh is leading a coalition of Attorneys General in calling on President Trump to withdraw his controversial executive order designed to streamline infrastructure projects.
Executive Order 13927 instructs federal agencies to use their emergency authority to quickly approve transportation and infrastructure projects while sidestepping many different environmental review processes outlined in landmark federal legislation such as the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
“Since taking office, President Trump has sacrificed important public health protections to benefit big corporations,” said Attorney General Frosh. “But it is a new low to slash our bedrock environmental and public health reviews in the middle of this terrible COVID-19 public health crisis. By using the pandemic to help his friends, Trump will endanger and harm many thousands of innocent American families.”
The coalition argues that bypassing important environmental reviews puts the environment and citizens in danger, outweighing any benefits assumed as a result of faster infrastructure project approval. The executive order is consistent with the highly controversial EPA temporary enforcement policy adopted in March. AG Frosh signed onto a coalition letter urging an end to the Agency policy and joined the subsequent lawsuit challenging its legality.
Previous Coverage on Conduit Street:
Frosh Signs on to Letter Requesting End to EPA Policy
Frosh, Other State AGs Ask Court to Halt EPA’s Pandemic Policy
