Reversing Environmental Rollbacks

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CLEE’s rollbacks project is now featured in an interactive tracker on Grist. All future updates throughout 2022 will be displayed on Grist’s page.

 

CLEE has compiled nearly 200 rollbacks, listed below, based on the tracking information from Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center, Harvard Law School, and other sources. These rollbacks were then assessed for impact and difficulty of reversal. Impact was determined based on the rollback’s effect on the environment, health, climate, and across federal programs. Reversal was deemed “easy” if the rollback was undertaken through executive order, agency guidance, or other action that can be reversed by executive or agency direction; and “difficult” for finalized rules. Where appropriate, we also propose reversal strategies. (Note: We credit the Sabin Center with an “S.C.” notation where we have adapted from its “Climate Reregulation in a Biden Administration” report.)

During the Spring 2021 semester, UC Berkeley undergraduates Jack Gil, Taylor Kavieff, and Ashley Soliman researched and designed infographics for a selection of high-impact rules initiated during the Obama Administration, reversed by the Trump Administration, and now under consideration for reversal by the Biden Administration. The infographics offer a user-friendly introduction to understanding the rules’ pathway through the federal rulemaking process, from initial statutory authorization to proposed and final rules: Vehicle Emissions Infographic | Power Plant Emissions Infographic | Oil & Gas Emissions Infographic

 

Total rollbacks: 210
Total reversals complete or in progress: 120 (Last updated 5/2/21)
Please contact clee@law.berkeley.edu with any comments or suggestions.

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CLEE thanks Hanson Bridgett LLP and Governing for Impact for their contributions to this effort, and Berkeley students Clara Barnosky, Jane Sadler, Richard Yates, and Zachary Zimmerman for their research assistance.