North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley has expressed approval of a recent decision by the North Dakota District Court. The court invalidated a rule introduced by the Biden Administration that aimed to change the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process for projects with federal involvement. This rule sought to include policy considerations such as “environmental justice” into what has traditionally been a procedural review since its inception in the 1970s.
The challenge against this rule was initiated by North Dakota, Iowa, and 19 other states who filed their complaint in the District of North Dakota during the summer. The court’s ruling vacates the rule on a national level, citing that various aspects exceeded the authority of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and were deemed arbitrary and capricious.
A significant aspect of the court’s decision is its agreement with the states’ argument that CEQ lacks rulemaking authority. As stated by the court: “for the past forty years all three branches of government operated under the erroneous assumption that CEQ had authority. But now everyone knows the state of the emperor’s clothing and it is something we cannot unsee.”
Attorney General Wrigley commented, “This decision is great for North Dakota, but also great for economic and infrastructure development around the entire country.” He criticized what he described as an attempt by the previous administration to politicize federal bureaucracy to push a partisan agenda. Wrigley added, “I applaud the District Court for seeing the Rule for what it was, and also for recognizing that agencies cannot promulgate rules when Congress has never actually given them any rulemaking authority.”
The order regarding all motions for summary judgment and partial summary judgment is attached.
