{"id":20183,"date":"2026-08-16T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/?p=20183"},"modified":"2026-08-16T11:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T17:13:10","slug":"ag-labrador-backs-reform-to-stop-activist-groups-from-blocking-infrastructure-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/ag-labrador-backs-reform-to-stop-activist-groups-from-blocking-infrastructure-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"AG Labrador Backs Reform to Stop Activist Groups From Blocking Infrastructure Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For Immediate Release<br>August 13, 2026<\/strong><br>Media Contact: <a href=\"mailto:damon.sidur@ag.idaho.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Damon Sidur<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>BOISE, ID \u2014<\/strong>&nbsp;Attorney General Ra\u00fal 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>\u201cThis law was written to give projects a fair environmental review, not a weapon for activists to kill projects they don\u2019t like,\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><em>said Attorney General Labrador.&nbsp;<strong>\u201cTime after time, these groups sue after a project is already approved, and the delay alone is enough to bury it. EPA\u2019s proposed rule stops that abuse and gives states a real, predictable path to build the roads, water systems, and energy projects our families need.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EPA\u2019s proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on June 25, 2026, updates the agency\u2019s procedures for implementing NEPA at 40 C.F.R. Part 6. The coalition\u2019s 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&nbsp;ballooning to an average of 661 pages and 4.5 years to complete. The proposed rule expands EPA\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coalition\u2019s letter also supports EPA\u2019s proposal to eliminate \u201cenvironmental justice\u201d provisions that gave procedural preference based on race, replacing them with a standard that applies equally to every American. The letter further backs EPA\u2019s clarification that NEPA governs Americans\u2019 relationship with the environment at home, not U.S. agency actions abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The States urged EPA to finalize the rule without modification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read the letter\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ag.idaho.gov\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/States-EPA-NEPA-Reform-Comment-Letter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Immediate ReleaseAugust 13, 2026Media Contact: Damon Sidur BOISE, ID \u2014&nbsp;Attorney General Ra\u00fal 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":20158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[243],"tags":[325,824],"class_list":["post-20183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions-op-eds","tag-epa","tag-press-release","cat-243-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20184,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20183\/revisions\/20184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}