In this June 22, 2016, file photo, Border Patrol agent Eduardo Olmos walks near the secondary fence separating Tijuana, Mexico, background, and San Diego in San Diego.

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

The Trump administration is waiving environmental laws to speed up anupgrade of a segment of thewall along the border of Mexico.

According to , the waiver addresses a 15-mile segment of the border wall near San Diego.

Citing its authority under a 2006 law to set aside environmental laws and rules when necessary for border infrastructure, the DHS said plans for the segment include an upgrade to fencing already in place and the construction of wall prototypes, among other projects.

Former DHS Secretary John Kelly, who was named White House chief of staff this week,justified his decisionby noting that the San Diego border area “remains an area of high illegal entry for which there is an immediate need to improve current infrastructure and construct additional border barriers and roads."

“While the waiver eliminates DHS’s obligation to comply with various laws with respect to covered projects, the department remains committed to environmental stewardship with respect to these projects,” Kellysaid in the statement. “DHS has been coordinating and consulting — and intends to continue doing so — with other federal and state resource agencies to ensure impacts to the environment, wildlife, and cultural and historic artifacts are analyzed and minimized, to the extent possible.”

Exemptions in the waiver include dozens of environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

The announcement comes as several environmental groups voiced their concerns about the border wall that was a key Trump campaign promise.

American Oversight said the DHS statement was a "disturbing sign that Trump will barrel aheadwith building the wall, no matter the cost to taxpayers or the environment."

"Given the widespread skepticism towards the effectiveness of the border wall by leaders in both parties ... effective safeguards are more important than ever," American Oversight's executive director, Austin Evers, .

DHS said in thestatement it "remains committed to environmental stewardship with respect to these projects."