WASHINGTON Furthering his attack on Obama-era climate policies, President Donald Trump has rescinded a rule that requires federal, state and local agencies to account for rising sea levels caused by climate change and to construct buildings, highways and other infrastructure to withstand flooding.

The sweeping change is included in an executive order on federal permitting for infrastructure projects that Trump signed Tuesday in New York City.

During an appearance Tuesday, Trump said the existing permitting process is over-regulated, calling it a massive self-inflicted wound.

No longer will we allow the infrastructure of our magnificent country to crumble and decay, he said.

Eli Lehrer , president of the libertarian think tank R Street Institute , told HuffPost that weakening the flood standard will prove extremely problematic for taxpayers, resulting in more structures being built in places where they shouldnt be.

Theres obviously legitimate things to be done to speed up infrastructure, but saying that were not going to pay attention to flood risks is not the way to do it, Lehrer said. And while its possible more infrastructure will be built... it is also quite likely that a lot of what is built will be destroyed in relatively short order. So this does no good for anybody.

Trumps order rolls back the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard , which President Barack Obama established via executive order in January 2015. The policy which the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies have been working to implement aimed to reduce the risk and cost of future flood disasters and help ensure federal projects last as long as intended, the White House said in a release at the time.

Flood-related damages are anticipated to increase over time due to the effects of climate change and other threats, Obamas order read. Losses caused by flooding affect the environment, our economic prosperity, and public health and safety, each of which affects our national security.