https://www.stripes.com/news/us/us-to-waive-environmental-reviews-for-san-diego-border-wall-1.567973

SAN DIEGO — The Trump administration on Friday waived environmental reviews to replace a 14-mile stretch of border barrier in San Diego, shielding itself from potentially crippling delays.

The Department of Homeland Security said it would issue the sixth waiver of Donald Trump's presidency under a 2005 law that empowers the secretary to waive reviews required under environmental laws if the border barrier is deemed to be in national security interests. Those laws include the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act.

The waiver, which was announced Thursday and published Friday in the Federal Register, helps clear the way for work to begin this month on replacing a second layer of barrier in San Diego, a steel-mesh wall that worked like a fortress when it was built about a decade ago but is now often breached with powerful battery-operated saws sold in home improvement stores.