The Trump administration announced Thursday that one of the country’s oldest and most prominent environmental laws is set to be gutted, potentially allowing major energy and infrastructure projects to avoid significant federal and public scrutiny – leaving states like Alabama at greater risk, say experts.

The National Environmental Protection Act, which enjoyed broad bipartisan support under the Nixon Administration, has formed a bedrock of environmental regulation in the United States for 50 years, and is a policy so revered it has been copied by dozens of other nations. It legally requires all federal agencies to consider the environmental consequences of its actions through impact statements and assessments.

It also allows the public, activists and environmental groups to remain knowledgeable throughout the review process.

The Trump administration, which has rolled back dozens of environmental laws since coming into power in 2017, wants to do away with many of the act’s legal requirements while streamlining the environmental review process. Projects with minimal federal funding or involvement would forgo any assessment at all, while other projects would require either a one or two-year review process, according to new policy documents published on the Federal Register website Friday.

Mining companies routinely describe permitting delays as their top concern. The new rules released yesterday by the White House would dramatically accelerate NEPA reviews for mines and land leases.https://t.co/nEn9x14nqu — E&E News (@EENewsUpdates) January 10, 2020

Environmental experts in Alabama, one of the most ecologically diverse states in the nation, say the rollback will mean the public could be shut out of the process altogether.

“Losing NEPA means we lose our ability to probably both know what the environmental impacts are gonna be for a project and even knowing what projects are being proposed,” said Casi Callaway, executive director of the Mobile Baykeeper, a Gulf Coast-based environmental group. “And certainly we would lose our ability to weigh in on those projects.”

In 1998, the Baykeeper was able to use NEPA provisions to oppose the Highway 98 construction plan because of the potential it would pollute Mobile’s public drinking water. Eight years later, the Baykeeper took legal action against the Alabama Department of Transportation after construction caused mud and dirt to fill Big Creek Lake. The legal action forced ALDOT to “improve stormwater and hazardous material containment on the project and actually raises Alabama’s standards for future roadway construction.”

While proposals for a new gas unit at Alabama Power’s Barry Plant are unlikely to be affected by the White House rollbacks, Callaway says it could make it more difficult for the public to fight the long-proposed road that would connect the Foley Beach Expressway to Orange Beach.

“Essentially it would go straight through the only maritime forest left on the northern Gulf Coast,” said Callaway. “It’s protected by federal designation and by state designation, but it’s the kind of road project that could go through without public comment, opposition or protection if these new rules are passed."

The oil and gas industry, alongside trade unions, have long called for a more streamlined process in obtaining authorization for major projects. The government’s proposal noted that some simple reviews were taking as long as six years.

“The step we’re taking today, which will ultimately lead to final regulations, I believe will hit a home run in delivering better results to the American people,” Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said on Thursday.

The public will have a 60-day window to make comments about the changes and then two public hearings will be held before a final regulation is issued, which could come as soon as the fall.

However, the proposal is likely to be challenged in court and may not be complete until after the next election, said Callaway.

It comes just four months after the Trump administration scrapped the controversial anti-pollution Water of the United States rule, which was designed to better define bodies of water governed by the 70’s-era Clean Water Act. Since President Trump came to power nearly three years ago, he has made it common policy to roll back environmental regulations, making it easier for industry to avoid certain checks and balances created under Obama and previous presidents.

Trump has successfully rolled back 58 different federal regulations and has 37 in the process of being changed or scrapped, according to a New York Times study. In many cases, the federal government handed over authority to the states, noted the study.

Infrastructure permitting red tape is out of control! The Trump administration's latest actions could change that. https://t.co/zb1MQhWX1c — Power The Future (@powerthefuture) January 10, 2020

While the proposals will help speed along projects, some of which have been under review for as long as 20 years, it will leave the environment at greater risk, said Stephen Stetson, a senior member of the Alabama chapter of the Sierra Club, an influential grassroots environmental organization.

“I’m old enough to remember back when we used to want the government to be careful before taking a wrecking ball to things,” said Stetson. “Now, I guess we’re in too much of a rush for short-term profits to really care any more about protecting the environment.”

He added: “When the government proposes a new dam or road—or when a private company seeks to build a project like a pipeline that needs a federal permit—NEPA requires the federal agency associated with the project to take several steps before breaking ground. That’s smart policy and gutting these protections is bad for Alabama.”