Soon after President Biden took office, the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division rescinded nine enforcement policies issued by Trump appointees as "inconsistent with longstanding division policy and practice." Additionally, the policies "may impede the full exercise of enforcement discretion in the division's cases." With the stroke of a pen, ENRD lifted the prohibition on Supplemental Environmental Projects in civil cases and jettisoned a 2020 memorandum limiting federal overfilling in state enforcement actions.The move signaled a new chapter at ENRD. Practitioners anticipate renewed activity in three main areas: a funneling of resources to civil and criminal enforcement, particularly under the Clean Air and Clean Water acts; leveraging the division's resources to support the administration's efforts to combat climate change; and a refo-cusing on underserved and disproportionately impacted communities.
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