(AP) — The action by the White House Council on Environmental Quality rescinds regulations implementing a landmark environmental law that requires federal agencies to consider a project’s possible environmental impacts before it is approved. The White House says the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, needlessly delays federal approvals for energy and infrastructure projects.

In a statement Wednesday, CEQ Chairwoman Katherine Scarlett said the directive will “slash needless layering of bureaucratic burden and restore common sense to the environmental review and permitting process.” Under Trump, she added, “NEPA’s regulatory reign of terror has ended.”

The action comes as Congress considers legislation intended to speed up permitting reviews for new energy and infrastructure projects and limit judicial review. A bill approved by the Republican-controlled House would enact the most significant change in decades to NEPA.