WASHINGTON - The Department of Transportation is proposing to exempt commercial space launch licensing from many environmental regulations, a move that has industry execs fist-pumping and environmentalists sharpening their legal pencils.

The department announced July 28 its intent to file a proposed rule that would exempt Federal Aviation Administration licenses for commercial launches, reentries, and launch sites from 13 federal laws and associated regulations. The rule invokes the secretary of transportation's authority to waive requirements after consulting with relevant agencies and concluding those requirements are “not necessary to protect the public health and safety, safety of property, and national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.”

Among the laws on the chopping block is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires environmental reviews for “major federal actions.” The proposal cites a 2025 Supreme Court decision that limited NEPA's scope to direct consequences, apparently giving regulators permission to ignore indirect environmental impacts like “what happens if a rocket explodes over a wetland.”

The rule stems from an executive order issued last August by President Donald Trump on commercial space policy, which called on the secretary of transportation to “use all available authorities to eliminate or expedite” environmental reviews. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement, “America won the first Space Race, and we can do it again, but only if we get government red tape out of the way.” The announcement did not explain why it took nearly a year to publish the proposed rule, but presumably red tape is sticky.

Industry groups like the Commercial Space Federation praised the move, arguing that environmental assessments are expensive and time-consuming and have never actually blocked a project, just mildly inconvenienced it. Environmental groups, however, noted that the waiver applies not just to NEPA but also to the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and Clean Air Act. “NASA has conducted space launches for decades in a responsible way, but now Trump wants to gut even the most basic environmental safeguards to enrich some of the world’s wealthiest people,” said Brett Hartl of the Center for Biological Diversity.

The center is part of a group suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over a proposed land swap with SpaceX that would give the company 715 acres in the Lower Rio Grande Wildlife Refuge adjacent to its Starbase, Texas, site in exchange for 683 acres elsewhere. On July 28, a court ruled the case should be transferred to the Southern District of Texas, because apparently land in Texas is best judged by Texas. The 30-day public comment period begins July 30, after which the FAA will review comments before issuing a final rule - assuming there's any clean air left to comment in.