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The Trump administration has waged what and many other legal experts view as on the nation's environmental laws for the past four years. Decisions at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department and other agencies have weakened the guardrails that protect our nation's air, water and public lands, and have rather than advocating for public health and the environment.

Senior officials such as EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler assert that the Trump administration has and made the regulatory process less bureaucratic. But former EPA leaders from both Democratic and Republican administrations have called this administration's actions .

Rolling back laws and hollowing out agencies

The Trump administration has used many tools to weaken environmental protection. For example, Trump issued an in June 2020 to waive environmental review for infrastructure projects like pipelines and highways.

The EPA has revised regulations that implement the Clean Water Act to drastically . And the administration has under the Clean Air Act to set its own standards for air pollution emissions from cars, although .

The Trump administration has also changed agency procedures to and upended a longstanding approach to of environmental rules. It has for key agency functions such as research and overseen an .

A quick about-face

I expect that the Biden administration will quickly signal to the nation that effectively applying the nation's environmental laws matters to everyone—especially to communities that bear an unfair share of the public health burden of pollution.

With a closely divided Senate, Biden will need to rely primarily on executive actions and must-pass legislative measures like the federal budget and the Farm Bill to further his environmental agenda. Policies that require big investments, such as Biden's pledge to , can make a big difference, but may be challenging to advance. Coupling clean technology with infrastructure and jobs programs to build back better is likely to have broad appeal.

I expect that officials will move quickly to restore the role of science in agency decision-making and withdraw Trump-era policies that make it harder to adopt protective regulations. A Biden EPA will end efforts to impede states like California that are moving ahead under their own authority to protect their residents, and will make clear to career staff that their expertise is valued.

The agency is likely to withdraw or closely scrutinize pending Trump proposals, such as the ongoing review of the current . Officials also will review pending litigation, much of which involves challenges to Trump administration rule revisions and policies, and decide whether to defend any of them. There likely won't be many.

One area where EPA can quickly change course is enforcement. Biden's climate and energy plan pledges to , and his administration reportedly plans to create a new division at the Justice Department focused on . Biden has to , where neighborhoods are heavily affected by concentrations of highly polluting sources such as refineries and hazardous waste sites.

Many of these actions can be done quickly through new executive orders or policy changes. Regulatory changes will take longer. In my view, Biden's biggest challenge will be deciding what to prioritize. His administration will not be able to do (or undo) everything. Even with a revitalized career workforce and political staff all rowing in the same direction, there won't be enough bandwidth to address all the bad policies enacted in the past four years, let alone move forward with a proactive agenda focused on public health protection and environmental justice.