Federal court axes Biden-era NEPA rule

By Niina H. Farah, Lesley Clark | 02/04/2025 01:49 PM EST

A judge ruled the White House Council on Environmental Quality lacked the authority to issue the 2024 regulations.

A gavel sits atop a binder.

A federal judge struck down a Biden-era rule on how agencies should comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images

A federal judge in North Dakota this week became the latest to reject the White House’s authority to regulate how agencies craft environmental reviews of major federal projects.

The U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota struck down the 2024 White House Council on Environmental Quality rule for how agencies should comply with the National Environmental Policy Act.

All three branches of the federal government had been operating under the “erroneous assumption” for the past four decades that the CEQ had authority, Judge Daniel Traynor, a Trump appointee, said in a ruling issued late Monday.

Advertisement

“But now everyone knows the state of the emperor’s clothing and it is something we cannot unsee,” he said.

GET FULL ACCESS