President Joe Biden could take steps to protect his environmental legacy from incoming President Donald Trump's deregulation plans, but it will be challenging and likely fail over time, environmental lawyers and advocates said this week.

Biden, for example, could try to strengthen the statutory bases for his Environmental Protection Agency's rules by issuing general counsel opinions that link the rules to succesful defenses of earlier regulations, said Berkeley School of Law professor Daniel Farber. The EPA could also release technical reports with data supporting finalized rules, he added.