The Republican-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is proposing two rule changes that would make it easier for liquified natural gas export terminal and other natural gas projects to clear environmental reviews.

On Oct. 15, FERC proposed creating a “blanket authorization” for projects at liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminals that compress and liquify U.S. gas to be loaded onto tankers for shipment abroad, mainly to Asia and Europe. The changes would “streamline permitting” and “speed energy infrastructure development,” agency staff wrote in a news release.

The change would create categories for different scales of projects at LNG facilities. The most stringent category would allow companies to build new LNG facilities with 90 days “prior notice” to FERC. This category would include new facilities that liquify and store natural gas, as well as areas for ships to berth to load or unload LNG.

Current regulations require such facilities to get FERC authorizations on a case-by-case basis. Smaller projects at LNG sites could proceed with 60 days’ notice or “automatic authorization.”

The proposal comes amid a wave of new LNG expansion projects proposed along the Gulf Coast. Over the past 14 months, companies have proposed expansions at three LNG terminals in Louisiana and four in Texas. The expansions and associated pipelines could also damage hundreds of acres of fragile coastal wetlands and release millions of tons of greenhouse gases, according to permit applications.

FERC staff also on Oct. 15 proposed another new rule that would exempt natural gas projects from having to model the effects of the air pollution their facilities release into the atmosphere. Such reviews have been required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Environmental groups say FERC’s proposed changes only benefit fossil fuel companies and will lead to more pollution from LNG terminals and other gas facilities.

“Eroding these guardrails will make our historically high energy prices even worse, increase harm to local ecosystems and communities, and exacerbate the climate crisis,” said Claire Dorner, associate legislative and advocacy director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign, in a recent statement. “FERC cannot abdicate its responsibility to comprehensively review these types of projects that have a legacy of polluting our communities and the environment.”