Other orders seek to lighten the regulatory burden on infrastructure projects broadly.

President Donald Trump took steps to revive two oil-pipeline projects that were rejected under the Obama administration, advancing his campaign agenda while threatening to raise the ire of environmentalists. Mr. Trump also took broader action that seeks to ease the regulatory burden on infrastructure projects, while also promoting the U.S. steel sector. Two of the executive orders were aimed specifically at the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. These routes were designed to make oil trapped in the middle of North America more accessible to consumers, but they both ran into fierce opposition and ultimately were denied permits under former President Barack Obama.

During the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump said repeatedly he would throw his support behind the pipelines, which became a rallying cry for the Republican Party but ignited fierce opposition from environmental activists, Native American groups and Democrats. On Keystone, Mr. Trump said: “We’re going to renegotiate some of the terms, and if they’d like, we’ll see if we can get that pipeline built.” The other three executive orders call for streamlining permitting processes for infrastructure projects, expediting environmental reviews for manufacturers and calling for all pipelines built in the U.S. to be made with steel made in the U.S.

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