AG Labrador Backs Reform to Stop Activist Groups From Blocking Infrastructure Projects

BOISE, ID - Attorney General Raúl Labrador joined a coalition of 21 other states, led by West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey, in urging the Environmental Protection Agency to finalize new rules that stop activist groups from using a decades-old environmental law to block roads, water systems, and energy projects Americans depend on. For years, groups opposed to development have used the National Environmental Policy Act not to protect the environment, but to bury already-approved projects in lawsuits and endless paperwork, sometimes for years after construction has already begun.

"This law was written to give projects a fair environmental review, not a weapon for activists to kill projects they don't like," said Attorney General Labrador. "Time after time, these groups sue after a project is already approved, and the delay alone is enough to bury it. EPA's proposed rule stops that abuse and gives states a real, predictable path to build the roads, water systems, and energy projects our families need."

EPA's proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on June 25, 2026, updates the agency's procedures for implementing NEPA at 40 C.F.R. Part 6. The coalition's July 27 letter documents how this litigation strategy has delayed or halted roughly 2,000 projects nationwide, with challenged projects facing average delays of 4.2 years and environmental impact statements ballooning to an average of 661 pages and 4.5 years to complete. The proposed rule expands EPA's use of categorical exclusions for low-impact projects, clarifies which agency leads a review when multiple agencies are involved, and enforces the page limits and deadlines Congress already set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. It also implements a new fast-track review option Congress created in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The coalition's letter also supports EPA's proposal to eliminate "environmental justice" provisions that gave procedural preference based on race, replacing them with a standard that applies equally to every American. The letter further backs EPA's clarification that NEPA governs Americans' relationship with the environment at home, not U.S. agency actions abroad.

The States urged EPA to finalize the rule without modification.

Read the letter here.