Grant Suneson
Trump Goes After Former Members Of His Advisory Council
Several CEOs on Trump's manufacturing advisory council have stepped down, citing his reaction to Charlottesville violence.
LEARN MOREPosted: 9:48 p.m. EDT Aug 16, 2017
As part of his push to revamp the country's infrastructure, President Trump is repealing an Obama-era regulation on flood readiness, saying projects have to deal with too much red tape from the government.
"This over-regulated permitting process is a massive self-inflicted wound on our country," Trump said at a press conference.
On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order to streamline the review process for infrastructure projects to create "more efficient and effective Federal infrastructure decisions."
It would set a definite timeline for federal reviews for permits and evaluations of environmental hazards.
As part of that directive, he repealed a 2015 executive order that created federal standards for flood readiness. President Obama wanted public buildings in danger of being flooded to be set 2-3 feet higher than the previous flood elevation.
But Trump wasn't on board for a few reasons: He says building projects already have to wade through too much bureaucracy to get started.
Trump officials say states will now be able to set their own standards for infrastructure projects.
Obama also cited climate change as a reason to raise standards for flood preparations. But Trump hasn't acknowledged whether he believes climate change is a real threat.
He's referred to climate change as a hoax and pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, which sought to slow the rate of global temperature increase.
Experts believe the effects of heightened temperatures can cause more extreme weather incidents like floods.
This is part of Trump's pledge to overhaul the U.S. infrastructure system. He also pledged to deliver a $1 trillion package to rebuild U.S. infrastructure, but legislators so far haven't had time to work on a bill for him to sign.
