New EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin will need to hit the ground running to keep up with the requirements and deadlines set in motion on the first day of the Trump Administration.
Four executive orders (EOs) issued by the Trump Administration on January 20, 2025 direct the EPA to immediately begin taking a series of sharp policy and administrative shifts in the weeks and months ahead. Three presidential actions (PAs) issued on the same day will directly impact EPA policy and staffing.
Below are links to the relevant EOs and PAs, followed by brief synopses and an overview of what businesses can expect.
Executive Orders
Presidential Actions
Zeldin was sworn in on Jan. 30, 2025, pledging to “work closely with the dedicated career officials at the agency to fulfill the agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment.”
Unleashing American Energy
EO 14154 sets a deadline of Feb. 19, 2025, for EPA to:
- Report “on the legality and continuing applicability” of the 2009 endangerment finding for greenhouse gases, a foundational ruling for federal climate change regulations for vehicles and power plants.
- Develop action plans to suspend, revise or rescind all agency actions identified as:
- unduly burdensome on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources, focusing on oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral and nuclear energy resources
- or that do not promote “true consumer choices” for vehicles and appliances
EO 14154 also directs EPA to issue guidance by March 21, 2025, to address the “harmful and detrimental inadequacies” used in the existing calculation of the social cost of carbon and consider eliminating altogether the social cost of carbon calculation from any federal permitting or regulatory decision.”
In addition, EO 14154 states that it is “terminating the Green New Deal” and requires EPA and other agencies to immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. It requires the agencies to review their processes, policies, and programs for issuing grants, loans, contracts, or any other financial disbursements of such appropriated funds for consistency with the law and the policy outlined in the Executive Order and to submit a report on their findings within 90 days. (The impact of this pause on funding awards that had already been announced is unclear. (See, Aaron Mapes, PENNVEST Awards $28M of PFAS Funding, Bringing Total to $95M in the PFAS and Emerging Contaminants blog, Jan. 29, 2025)
Declaring a National Energy Emergency
EO 14156 imposes various requirements on the EPA including identifying any emergency and other authorities to facilitate the supply, refining and transportation of energy in the United States. It calls for summary reports by EPA every 30 days thereafter. Notably, this EO defines energy to mean “crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals but not solar or wind.”
Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential
Under EO 14153, the EPA and the heads of all executive departments and agencies are required to exercise all lawful authority and discretion to prioritize the development of Alaska LNG potential, including the permitting of all necessary pipeline and export infrastructure, giving due consideration to the economic and national security benefits associated with such development.
Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements
This PA expresses the intent of the United States to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. EPA has 30 days to submit a report detailing its actions to revoke or rescind policies that were implemented to advance the International Climate Finance Plan.
Presidential Actions
Regulatory Freeze Pending Review
EPA is prohibited from proposing or issuing any rule until Administrator Zeldin reviews and approves the rule, which is likely to result in a flurry of proposed rules for the new EPA Administrator to review. By way of example, on January 21, 2025, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) withdrew EPA’s Proposed Rule, “Clean Water Act Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) and Standards for PFAS Manufacturers Under the Organic Chemicals, Plastics and Synthetic Fibers (OCSPF) Point Source Category.” It is unclear whether this will impact EPA’s draft water quality criteria for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) which was listed as open for public comment until Feb. 24, 2025.
What to Expect
With the lightning speed of the release of these new orders and directives, the acting EPA administrator reportedly issued a directive on January 24, 2025 that instructed all EPA staff to halt communications with external parties pending further instructions, with a few limited exceptions.
Some regions appear to be continuing communications with private parties on matters that have already been settled and where implementation of the settlement is underway, such as a remedial action under a CERCLA consent decree. It is unclear if this directive will be lifted now that Administrator Zeldin is in place and can communicate the objectives and policies of the EPA under the new administration.
Staffing at EPA to get all this work done could also be an issue. The Trump Administration’s hiring freeze applies to almost all executive departments and agencies. The PA on Return to In-Person Work could result in longtime EPA employees leaving the agency. It requires EPA to terminate remote work arrangements. On Jan. 24, 2025, EPA issued a “return-to-office” order to agency employees requiring that they return to their in-person worksites “as soon as practicable and not later than Feb. 24, 2025.”
In furtherance of the administration’s stated goal of reducing the federal workforce, most EPA staff received an email from the Office of Personnel Management offering a buyout under which employees may resign and receive pay through the end of September. The email warned employees that those who do not accept the buyout offer may face an uncertain future at the agency and set a Feb. 6, 2025, deadline for employees to accept the buyout offer. Congressional Democrats have taken the position that Trump lacks authority to offer to pay staff through the end of the fiscal year, noting that the federal government is currently funded only through March 14, 2025.
Under the PA on “Restoring Accountability for Career Senior Executives,” EPA is required to implement a Career “Senior Executive Service” Performance Plan and reassign EPA SES personnel to ensure that their skills are “optimally aligned” to implement the agenda of the Trump Administration. This order will likely result in the reassignment of some EPA personnel to new subject matter areas and positions.
In addition, it is unclear how the recent trio of Trump Executive Orders taking aim at DEI and gender policies may impact EPA employees. (See our recent alert: Trio of Trump Executive Orders Take Aim at DEI and Gender Policies.)
It also remains to be seen whether the issued-then-rescinded OMB pause on funding of all federal grants, loan, and other forms of financial assistance may necessitate a reduction in EPA’s work force. (See our blog post on this topic: Trump Administration (Sort Of) Abandons Funding Freeze | The Federal Government Contracts & Procurement Blog.)
All of these actions combined will likely result in a reduction of EPA staff who are knowledgeable about their subject area.
What This Means for Private Companies and Others
Delay and some level of confusion or inconsistency in EPA positions should be expected in the short term. EPA staff may not have much more information than regulated companies do, and staff will be trying to figure out how to proceed in implementing the flurry of orders and directives from the new administration.
With staff reassignments and resignations anticipated, experienced EPA employees may be hard to come by. Positions taken by EPA in ongoing negotiations may change suddenly and dramatically.
Companies should be patient as the agency works through the changes brought about by the new administration. The shift in priorities of the new administration also provides an opening for companies to argue that their position is a “common sense” solution and that any proposed project will spur business and job creation.
For some companies, these changes may open significant opportunities and new points of leverage. Companies should feel free to raise arguments and positions rejected by EPA under the prior administration.
Increased Action by States
In addition to the confusion on the federal level, it is likely that some states will take aggressive action to advance their environmental initiatives and new regulatory requirements and standards on the state level should be anticipated. By way of example, leaders of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are vowing to defend their authority to implement stringent climate and clean air regulations.
New York also recently passed a Climate Change Superfund Law that imposes retroactive strict, joint and several liability on companies that New York contends have had an outsized impact on climate change and requires these “responsible parties” to make payments to a fund to be used for infrastructure and other projects that will mitigate the impacts of climate change.
[View source.]
