A new coalition of mining and energy groups is pushing President Donald Trump to issue an executive order that would make it harder for a future Democratic president to veto water permits already issued to major energy projects.
The campaign highlights concern that a future administration could weaponize certain authorities to kill fossil fuel projects as Trump has targeted renewable energy.
“The intent is what can be done administratively that would slow down a future administration from making a retroactive denial of a permit or yanking of a permit,” said Myron Ebell, who led Trump’s first EPA transition team and now serves as a senior adviser to the “Fix the EPA Veto Coalition.”
Specifically, the group wants to put administrative guardrails on Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, which empowers EPA to “veto” federal water permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers.
