Many ranchers are applauding President Donald Trump after he announced an overhaul of the nation鈥檚 bedrock environmental law on Thursday. 

The National Environmental Policy Act says federal agencies must take a hard look at environmental impacts before approving major projects, such as oil pipelines, coal mines, or renewing grazing permits on public lands. 

But industry groups have long argued that law is burdensome and needs streamlining. Now the Trump administration is answering those calls. 

Its would essentially make it easier to build things like oil and gas pipelines. It would also mandate a faster timeline for environmental reviews on projects like timber sales or cattle grazing on public lands.

鈥淭hese reforms are very exciting,鈥� Jennifer Houston, president of the National Cattlemen鈥檚 Beef Association, said at the White House after Trump鈥檚 announcement. 鈥淭hey will streamline the process, reduce duplication, allow more local control, and let our cattlemen, our beef producers, go on back to do what they do best 鈥� and that鈥檚 raising high-quality beef to feed the world.鈥�

But conservation group Center for Western Priorities says the Trump administration is weakening environmental protections and sticking its head in the sand when it comes to climate change.

鈥淭he National Environmental Policy Act is really our Magna Carta of our environmental laws,鈥� said Jesse Prentice-Dunn, the group鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淲hat we saw today was the administration trying to take the enforcement of that [law] and run it through the shredder.鈥� 

Still, Prentice-Dunn says the Trump administration is opening itself up to future legal challenges because the proposed rules don鈥檛 change the law itself 鈥� only the enforcement of it. 

鈥淭hey have a really terrible record in the courts right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he courts are increasingly saying that you have to take climate change into account when leasing for oil and gas on public lands. This is only going to extend their losing streak further.鈥�

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, praised the effort to reform NEPA, , 鈥淩educing redundancies, enhancing coordination with states and tribes, clarifying ambiguous terms, and establishing time frames for the completion of paperwork is the 20/20 vision we needed.鈥�

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada, the O鈥機onnor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, and KRCC and 皇冠网址 in Colorado. Follow Nate Hegyi on Twitter .

Copyright 2020 KUER 90.1. To see more, visit .