The President Should Create a New Position on the Council of Environmental Quality Dedicated to Immigration
By Julie Axelrod on November 2, 2018
The Trump administration is now reviewing public comments on several proposals to update environmental regulations. These proposals include updates to two of our toughest environmental laws, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The president should take this opportunity to remedy the longstanding neglect of federal immigration agencies to assess the population impacts of immigration policies. One way would be to appoint an environmental official to take the lead of this mandated oversight.
NEPA, commonly referred to as the "Magna Carta" of American environmental law, requires all federal agencies to evaluate the environmental impact of all potentially environmentally significant actions before making decisions. ESA, which the Supreme Court called "the most comprehensive legislation for the preservation of endangered species ever enacted by any nation," directs all federal agencies to take positive action to conserve endangered and threatened species. (See Tennessee Valley Auth. v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153, 180 (1978).) One requirement under ESA is that every agency that takes an action that might threaten a protected species must consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before executing the action that might threaten its habitat.
https://cis.org/Axelrod/President-Should-Create-New-Position-Council-Environmental-Quality-Dedicated-Immigration
