A new rule proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration would allow the Secretary of Transportation to exempt the commercial space industry from requirements under 13 environmental laws, including the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts.
The proposed rule, meant to “reduce regulatory burden” for the industry, is raising concern from environmentalists. Members of the public can submit written comments to weigh in on the proposal through Aug. 31.
‘Major red flags’
The proposed rule cites an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in August 2025, entitled "Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry.” The order directs the Transportation Secretary to “use all available authorities to eliminate or expedite the Department of Transportation’s environmental reviews for, and other obstacles to the granting of, launch and reentry licenses and permits.”
The proposal now put forward by the FAA seeks to empower the Transportation Secretary to do just that: to “eliminate environmental review processing.”
Ivan Ditmars is an associate attorney with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, which plans to submit comments opposing the proposed rule. Based on the information made available so far, he said, it’s not entirely clear how the proposal would function in practice.
“One of the problems with really trying to analyze this proposal at this stage is that the FAA hasn't given us a whole lot to work with,” Ditmars said. “Is it a waiver of all requirements in the Endangered Species Act? Is it certain parts of the Act? We just don't know at this stage.”
That said, the FAA’s proposal clearly states it seeks to allow the Transportation Secretary to waive any one of the 13 environmental laws’ requirements — “after consultation with the head of the appropriate executive agency” — if said requirement is deemed unnecessary to “protect the public health and safety, safety of property, and national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.”
Ditmars said the proposal should raise “major red flags” for anyone concerned with “the power of the regulatory state and the power of the executive (branch) in balance with Congress.”
“I think the concept of waiving 13 of the nation's core environmental laws with one simple regulatory provision is extremely out of the ordinary, and it should be treated as such,” Ditmars said. “This is a massive grab of power by the Trump administration to reward corporate allies.”
‘An insult to the American public’
Laurilee Thompson is a lifelong Titusville resident and angler who works on environmental issues, primarily restoring and protecting the Indian River Lagoon.
Of the FAA’s proposal, Thompson didn’t mince words: “It's an insult to the American public that they're even attempting this, in my opinion.”
Thompson said she doesn’t see the justification for allowing private, commercial space operators to work outside the requirements of federal environmental law. That’s despite the fact she also respects the space industry’s value to the region.
“We definitely need the space business, and we need for it to succeed,” Thompson said. “But our community also heavily depends on the two million visitors to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore.”
The refuge on Merritt Island supports among the highest numbers of endangered and threatened species found within the National Wildlife Refuge system, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Thompson and others worry the FAA’s proposal would translate to harm for many of those species, by allowing the space industry to bypass regulations for things like noise, air and water pollution.
Thompson is also concerned the proposal would hurt the Indian River Lagoon system more broadly. Although the brackish estuary’s health is improving somewhat — particularly in the Mosquito Lagoon — the entire system remains impaired by pollution, including from septic tanks and wastewater spills.
Brevard County’s half-cent lagoon sales tax, approved by voters in 2016, raises an average $59 million annually for projects to help restore and protect the IRL. It’s up for renewal this November.
RELATED: Lagoon tax for another ten years? Brevard voters will decide
Thompson, a member of the citizens’ oversight committee for the lagoon tax, worries the FAA’s proposal would undo much of the progress the tax has made so far.
“By waiving adherence to the Clean Water Act, we're going to put the lagoon back in jeopardy again,” Thompson said.
The ‘real burden’ of the permitting process
Dale Ketcham is a lifelong Floridian with decades of experience working closely with the space industry. He recently retired from Space Florida, the state agency that courts private space business, after spending 18 years there.
Of the FAA’s proposal, Ketcham expressed concern about “potential overreach” by the executive branch. “It strikes me as an aggressive attempt to solve a problem.”
But the problem the proposal seeks to solve, Ketcham said, is real: the “real burden” of the lengthy, expensive permitting process. “The existing regulatory permitting process is flawed and broken, and inhibiting America (from) becoming what it wants to be.”
Ketcham said, at times, he’s seen “ridiculous” and “bizarre” environmental regulations overly restrict, complicate and delay progress, including for the space industry.
“But, you know, all of it's not bad. And there needs to be a process to evaluate,” Ketcham said. “I think any effort to just completely provide a categorical exclusion is going to meet with a lot of resistance, with good reason.”
Three private space companies in the region, Blue Origin, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, did not respond to emails seeking their perspective on the proposed rule before this story was published.
Here are the 13 laws that could be waived for the commercial space industry, according to the FAA’s proposal:
- National Environmental Policy Act
- U.S. Department of Transportation Act
- Endangered Species Act
- Clean Water Act
- Coastal Zone Management Act
- Clean Air Act
- National Historic Preservation Act
- Marine Mammal Protection Act
- Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
- Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
- Noise Control Act of 1972
- Rivers and Harbors Act
- National Marine Sanctuaries Act
