The Trump administration plans to put solar and wind projects through an elevated review process, saying that moves toward approval will have to be vetted by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s office.

In a press release on Thursday, the department said all “decisions and actions concerning wind and solar energy facilities will undergo elevated review by the Office of the Secretary.”

This includes decisions to lease new land or water for wind and solar, approving projects on that land and on other activities like grants and assessments of endangered species impacts. 

Critics say the move is likely to slow down the process of approving renewable energy projects on public lands and represents a further attack on the sector by the Trump administration.

Laura Daniel-Davis, who was the department’s acting No. 2 during the Biden administration, told The Hill that “the bottleneck of having to have everything flow up through the secretary’s office is going to delay” renewable projects.

Daniel-Davis said that in her experience most energy projects — renewable and fossil fuel alike — did not go through the secretary’s office, and especially not at each and every waypoint outlined by the department.

The Interior Department has jurisdiction over energy production on public lands and offshore. This includes renewables like wind and solar, as well as oil, gas and coal. 

“Today’s actions further deliver on President Trump’s promise to tackle the Green New Scam and protect the American taxpayers’ dollars,” acting Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management Adam Suess said in a statement.

The Trump administration has expressed support for fossil fuels but a dislike of renewables, especially wind.

President Trump said last month, “We’re not going to approve windmills unless something happens that’s an emergency.”

Separately, the Trump administration’s “big, beautiful bill” repealed tax incentives for solar and wind. 

—Updated at 4:29 p.m. EDT