In today’s atmosphere of regulatory uncertainty, environmental professionals may be unsure of how best to approach permitting and compliance obligations. While it may appear that environmental regulations are becoming less stringent, the current administration’s efforts for deregulation and staffing reductions may result in slower permitting timelines and/or additional environmental obligations enforced at the state level. As observed during President Trump’s first administration, the regulatory rollback led to an increase in nongovernmental organization (NGO) opposition. As NGOs attempted to restore a perceived weaker environmental review process by regulators, their engagement with permitting projects increased along with their public comments both in frequency and technical fervor.

During Trump’s first administration (2017-2021), significant EPA deregulation resulted in a rise in lawsuits and challenged permits from NGOs. In addition, environmental NGOs experienced a rise in donations, allowing them to strengthen enforcement through litigation. For example, in the first two years of the first Trump administration, EarthJustice filed 120 lawsuits to defend environmental protection. Of the 17 major decisions during that time, EarthJustice won 16 of them winning 94% of the legal challenges during that time. Likewise, the Center for Biological Diversity filed 266 lawsuits during Trump’s first administration and won 9 out of every 10 resolved cases. They are pledging to fight twice as strong during this second administration, already filing 44 lawsuits. These NGOs and others will likely continue to pursue litigation via a number of different avenues, which could include state-level challenges, suing EPA, and/or suing companies directly.

Furthermore, to mitigate federal deregulation, several states are tightening state specific environmental laws and increasing their enforcement. From an environmental justice (EJ) perspective, several states are creating new and revised EJ guidance and requirements, as well as developing their own EJ tools since they previously had relied on federal data. States with recent EJ policy activity include Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Rhode Island, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Maryland, among others. Although uncertain of the direct implications, companies should consider this during siting assessments, especially when evaluating locations in an EJ area of concern. Some states are also obtaining EPA waivers in order to be able to implement state specific initiatives and regulations. Several states that have their own state approval processes will be further complicated by EPA’s effort to limit public disclosure timeframes.

How Can Facilities Remain Prepared

Amongst all this regulatory uncertainty, one thing is certain: as new rules or guidance on currently proposed rules comes down from Washington, DC headquarters, it is expected that there will be legal challenges. This makes it critical for facilities to anticipate this pushback and be prepared. Trinity remains at the forefront of regulatory changes and challenges and can provide the following sound expertise and counsel to stay ahead in the regulatory atmosphere.

• Prepare Litigation-Resilient Documentation – Trinity’s deep roots in air permitting and compliance can prepare defensible air modeling analyses for your facility and future projects in anticipation of public scrutiny. In addition, our expertise in assisting facilities prepare comprehensive permit applications including determinations of Best Available Control Technology (BACT), can assist facilities in preparing BACT analyses that withstand legal pushback and opposition
• Support Proactive Stakeholder Engagement – Trinity’s experts can support stakeholder engagement with technically sound information that is backed by our staff of engineers and scientist that bring their technical expertise to all projects.
• Provide Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) to Data and Reports – Trinity’s support in providing QA/QC and peer reviews of client data/reports will minimize the risk of technically-based legal challenges.
• Deliver Local Expertise / Understanding of State Considerations – Trinity’s local everywhere presence, with offices all over the United States, will help clients stay ahead of changing state regulations, policy, and local concerns even if federal standards loosen. Furthermore, Trinity’s rapport and respect from state and local regulators will support Trinity’s ability to navigate these changes and provide smart solutions to clients.
• Anticipate and Mitigate Environmental Risk – Trinity’s knowledge and capabilities can help best strategize to identify and mitigate environmental compliance and permitting risks under the current regulatory environment, any statutory-driven changes, and the latest from the Courts, while anticipating scope and schedule impacts from the court of public opinion. This includes managing permitting and compliance at existing facilities as well as strategy associated with site selection for new facilities.

Trinity can assist in navigating this uncertainty throughout a project’s life cycle. Trinity’s unique acumen can take the gray of the current environmental atmosphere and apply it in black and white terms to various new project drivers. Trinity’s expertise in proactive strategy evaluation, regulatory navigation, identification of risks and options for mitigation, and crafting creative solutions during a project’s inception can alleviate future challenges. Even if a project hasn’t fully materialized, contact Trinity Consultants for the latest update and flavor of local expectations or reach out directly to a local expert.

In addition, join us at our complimentary webinar “Made in the USA: Environmental Considerations in President Trump’s Push for Domestic Manufacturing Growth” on September 24, 2025 from 2:00 – 3:00 pm EST and complimentary state-specific webinars as Trinity stays abreast of these regulatory changes.