Trump looks to scale back environmental reviews for projects

 President Donald Trump is expected to anunce a new federal rule to speed up environmental review process for proposed highways, gas pipelines and or major infrastructure, a move that critics are describing as dismantling of a 50-year-old environmental protection law.

Trump will travel to Atlanta on Wednesday to anunce federal rule as he seeks to make it easier to meet some of country's infrastructure needs. When he first anunced effort in January, ministration set a two-year deline for completing full environmental impact reviews while less comprehensive assessments would have to be completed within one year. White House said final rule will promote rebuilding of America.

Critics call president's efforts a cynical attempt to limit public’s ability to review, comment and influence proposed projects under National Environmental Policy Act, one of country’s bedrock environmental protection laws.

“This may be single biggest giveaway to polluters in past 40 years,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that works to save endangered species.

Trump has me slashing government regulation a hallmark of his presidency and held it out as a way to boost jobs. But environmental groups say regulatory rollbacks threaten public health and make it harder to curb global warming. With Congress and ministration divided over how to boost infrastructure investment, president is relying on his deregulation push to demonstrate progress.

“ United States can’t compete and prosper if a bureaucratic system holds us back from building what we need,” Trump said when first anuncing sweeping rollback of National Environmental Policy Act rules.

Georgia is emerging as a key swing state in general election. Trump won Republican-leaning state by 5 percent points in 2016, but some polls show him trailing former Vice President Joe Biden, presumptive Democratic minee. This will be Trump’s ninth trip to Georgia and his sixth visit to Atlanta during his presidency.

president's trip also comes as state has seen coronavirus cases surge and w has tallied more than 12,000 confirmed cases and more than 3,000 deaths.

Jon Ossoff, a Democrat who is running against incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue, said Trump’s decision to come to Georgia to discuss infrastructure as state's coronavirus crisis worsens demonstrates that president is “in denial and out of control.”

“Coming here for a routine photo-op is, frankly, bizarre, surreal against this unprecedented health and ecomic crisis,” Ossoff said.

Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, said that if Ossoff views a major policy anuncement to expedite critical infrastructure projects as anything or than about job growth and ecomic expansion, n it might explain why he lost an election two years ago.

White House said ministration’s efforts will expedite expansion of Interstate 75 near Atlanta, an important freight route where traffic can often slow to a crawl. state will create two interstate lanes designed solely for commercial trucks. state anunced last fall, before White House unveiled its proposed rule, that it was moving up deline for substantially completing project to 2028.

Thousands of Americans on both sides of new federal rule wrote to Council on Environmental Quality to voice ir opinions.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce cited a rth Carolina bridge in its letter as an example of unreasonable delays, saying bridge that connected Hatteras Island to Bodie Island took 25 years to complete, but only three years to build. “ failure to secure timely approval for projects and land manment decisions is also hampering ecomic growth,” business group wrote.

Natural Resources Defense Council said that when Congress passed National Environmental Policy Act 50 years ago, it did so with understanding that environmental well-being is compatible with ecomic well-being. proposed rule, it said, would le federal ncies to make decisions with significant environmental impacts without ever considering those impacts in vance.

“At end of day, it would le to poor decision, increased litigation and less transparency,” said Sharon Bucci, a senior director at environmental group.

Trump's trip to Georgia comes one day after Biden anunced an infrastructure plan that places a heavy emphasis on improving energy efficiency in buildings and housing as well as promoting conservation efforts in agriculture industry. In plan, Biden pledges to spend $2 trillion over four years to promote his energy proposals.

Trump’s push to use regulatory changes to boost infrastructure development also comes as House and Senate pursue starkly different efforts. Democratic-controlled House passed a $1.5 trillion plan that goes beyond ros and bridges and would fund improvements to schools, housing, water and sewer, and broband. A GOP-controlled Senate panel passed a bill last year setting aside $287 billion for ros and bridges, but or committees are still working on measure, including how to pay for it.