The administration on Thursday said it plans to issue rules setting forth standards for oil and gas drilling in federal lands and waters.
The rulemaking will come at the end of the Trump administration.
It comes a week after the Interior Department issued a regulation that allows companies to drill oil and natural gas wells in public lands and national forests.
Trump has said he wants to make oil and oil drilling in public land and waters “as safe as possible.”
The regulations are expected to help companies drill in national forests and public lands in the Interior and Interior Department.
The rules are the first steps in what the Trump team said was a more extensive rulemaking that would also require more public comment.
Environmentalists are concerned that the regulations will be used to limit drilling in national parks, but Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the Interior Office of Surface Mining is focused on “protecting our national parks and national monuments.”
“It’s important to remember that these rules will be voluntary,” Zinke told reporters Thursday.
Zinke also said the rules would be released within 90 days of the rulemaking.
