Noem Fast-Tracks Border Wall Construction by Bypassing Environmental Protections

The Trump administration has advanced border wall building by waiving several environmental laws this month, with Secretary Kristi Noem giving waivers for nearly 36 miles of new border wall construction in Arizona and New Mexico. The most major contract is Fisher Sand & Gravel obtaining $309 million to build roughly 27 miles of border wall in Arizona's San Rafael Valley.

The location chosen for this building raises serious ecological concerns. The San Rafael Valley is one of the region's most important natural areas, supporting various species populations and contains two rivers that travel between countries. The location facilitates cross-border species movement. 

According to the Department of Homeland Security, financing for this project will come from Customs and Border Protection's fiscal year 2021 distribution. These funds have been involved in legal challenges since the Biden administration began office, with prior attempts to transfer the cash toward wall mitigation initiatives denied by a federal court in Texas. The judge determined that the funds must be used solely for additional wall building, rather than for environmental cleanup.

Environmentalists have expressed severe concerns about Fisher Sand & Gravel's track record. According to Erick Meza of the Sierra Club's borderlands program, the Biden administration spent a significant amount of time and dollars addressing infrastructure issues caused by the first Trump government's wall initiatives, including work done by Fisher. The company has a reputation for quickness, but it has also received criticism for construction quality difficulties.

Fisher Sand & Gravel received more than $2 billion in federal border wall contracts during Trump's first presidency. The $309 million deal will place the border wall in the center of Arizona's biodiversity hotspot. The corporation also took part in the contentious "We Build the Wall" campaign which sought to contribute to private border wall construction but was ultimately discovered to be a counterfeit.

Despite these worries, environmental groups are working within the system to limit the damage. They intend to campaign for animal crossing structures to be included in the revised wall design during the public comment period that precedes construction. However, the environmental waivers approved by Secretary Noem greatly lower the regulatory scrutiny that would ordinarily be required for such projects in fragile ecological areas.

The present administration's prioritizing of border security infrastructure over environmental protection in these border regions is seen in the quick approval of development projects. The waivers eliminate the standard environmental review processes that would otherwise cause such projects to be delayed or modified in order to protect wildlife habitats and migration routes.