The Trump administration has declared March 12, 2025, as “the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in the history of the United States.” United States Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Lee Zeldin, issued various press releases (linked on our Environmental Executive Actions page) to advance President Trump’s day one executive order.
What You Need to Know:
- The Trump administration has declared March 12, 2025, as a historic day of deregulation, with the EPA planning major rollbacks on air and water regulations, revisiting mercury and air toxics rules, narrowing the definition of federal waterways, and reconsidering the 2009 scientific finding on greenhouse gas emissions.
- The EPA also aims to deregulate the oil and gas industry, including eliminating methane emissions reporting and allowing drilling wastewater reuse, while facing expected legal challenges from NGOs like Earth Justice.
Revision of the power plant rule will have major impacts for power producers as will plans to roll back other air and water regulations that have been in place for decades for the power industry, including narrowing the definition of federal waterways, which will also benefit land development, and reconsidering mercury and air toxics rules, updated by the Biden administration, designed to target coal-fired power plants. The agency also said it will take steps to undo the scientific finding from 2009 that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health, a provision that forms the bedrock of the EPA's greenhouse-gas regulations so far. The "endangerment finding" came as a result of a Supreme Court ruling in the 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA case holding that greenhouse gases are covered by the Clean Air Act. Zeldin announced the agency also plans to revisit standards set under the Biden administration to reduce soot and air particulate matter. Measures that would dial back regulations for the oil and gas industry, include eliminating required reporting of methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure. EPA is also considering allowing the reuse of drilling wastewater for agriculture and industrial use.
“While accomplishing EPA’s core mission of protecting the environment, the agency is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise to unleash American energy, lower costs for Americans, revitalize the American auto industry, restore the rule of law, and give power back to states to make their own decisions,” stated Zeldin.
NGO challenges to the anticipated rulemaking are expected. In a statement released to the press last week, Earth Justice President Abigail Dillen said “Should the EPA undo settled law and irrefutable facts, we expect to see this administration in court.”
