Deregulation Day: U.S. EPA Unveils Plans to Roll Back 31 Environmental Regulations

In what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is billing as the “greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced more than two dozen orders to scale back environmental regulations that target the nation's protections on clean air and water pollution.

If implemented, the flurry of directives seeks to advance the executive orders President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office.

The agency has claimed that by reconsidering environmental and climate change regulations, it would “roll back trillions in regulatory costs” and make it more affordable for Americans to buy cars, heat homes, and operate businesses.

“Trump is taking a chainsaw to the EPA as a favor for corporate polluters, leaving everyone else to wonder what toxic pollution will be in the water we drink and the air we breathe,” said Michelle Roos, executive director at the Environmental Protection Network, which includes more than 600 former EPA career staff and confirmation-level appointees from Democratic and Republican administrations.

Major Implications for the Chemical Industry

While many of the EPA's moves impact regulations aimed at weakening the nation's environmental protections, Louise Bernstein, 3E's managing director of Product Stewardship, said the actions signal major implications for the chemical industry. These impacts include changes to implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), safety data sheet (SDS) requirements, and coordination of enforcement between the EPA and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The rollbacks focus on several critical areas of TSCA implementation. The EPA plans to determine if the approach taken by the Biden administration to make a single risk determination for a chemical aligns with TSCA requirements. The agency will evaluate whether it must assess all conditions of use of a chemical simultaneously within the three-year timeframe generally prescribed by Congress. The EPA will reconsider how personal protective equipment (PPE) and industrial controls in occupational settings should be incorporated into risk evaluations and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with OSHA to that end.

“These announcements represent substantial shifts in regulatory approach that will impact companies dealing with chemical substances across multiple sectors,” said Bernstein, who focuses on minimizing the health, safety, and environmental impacts of a product and its packaging throughout all life cycle stages.

Additionally, Bernstein said these actions could potentially create challenges for companies’ ability to manage their supply chain compliance requirements.

“Product stewardship and compliance teams walk the fine line between risk and revenue. Therefore, those decisions are pressurized and complex, and they have now been made harder - at least in the short-term - until there is more clarity,” said Bernstein.

In total, Zeldin said the agency is rolling back 31 environmental rules, including an EPA 2009 scientific finding that has long been a significant basis for the U.S. to fight climate change. None of the changes take effect immediately, as they will undergo a lengthy rulemaking process and legal challenges.

“Donald Trump is hellbent on dismantling and disregarding so much of what helps keep our families and our communities safe. Protecting our air and water and holding deadly polluters accountable helps American families,” Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous said.

Here is a brief breakdown of some of the major EPA deregulatory actions.

Elimination of the Good Neighbor Plan

The EPA plans to eliminate the Good Neighbor Plan, which aims to reduce smog-causing emissions (specifically nitrogen oxides or NOx) from power plants and other industrial sources.

The rule, finalized by the EPA in March 2023, requires 23 states to reduce smog-causing NOx emissions from power plants and certain industrial sources to help downwind states meet the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), impacting more than 100 million people.

Rollback of EV Mandate, Car and Truck Emission Standards

The EPA plans to reassess Model Year 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicle Emissions Regulation, including the 2022 Heavy-Duty Nitrous Oxide (NOx) rule – which aims to reduce climate pollution, improve public health, and save drivers money through reduced fuel costs.

Zeldin said the agency is also targeting the Biden administration's Clean Trucks Plan, which the Trump administration believes will increase costs for the logistics industry, potentially leading to higher prices for goods delivered by trucks, like food and household goods.

“The American auto industry has been hamstrung by the crushing regulatory regime of the last administration. As we reconsider nearly one trillion dollars of regulatory costs, we will abide by the rule of law to protect consumer choice and the environment,” Zeldin said.

The Waters of the United States Rule

The EPA will work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to review the definition of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which refers to bodies of water under federal jurisdiction, including oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams.

The regulation establishes the basic governance structure for pollution of the nation's surface water, prohibiting the discharge of certain pollutants into “navigable waters,” which are defined as “waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.”

Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program

The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), originally enacted in 2009, mandates that select organizations, including large greenhouse gas emission (GHG) sources, fuel, and industrial gas suppliers, report their greenhouse gas emissions annually to the agency.

The EPA is reevaluating the GHGRP, which would impact nearly 8,000 facilities, including some organizations that emit 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year.

Rewrite of the EPA's Endangerment Finding

The EPA is proposing a review of the Endangerment Finding, which established that greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health and gave the agency the authority to regulate these emissions under the Clean Air Act. Placing the scientific finding on the chopping block could potentially impact regulations on oil and gas extraction, wastewater discharges, and other environmental rules.

This move comes after the EPA faced a lawsuit claiming the agency withheld documents concerning the nation's environmental protection, as 3E reported. On 3 March 2025 in a Washington D.C. federal district court, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed a lawsuit alleging the EPA failed to provide them with requested records regarding its review of the Endangerment Finding.

Elimination of EPA's Environmental Justice Offices

The EPA plans to shut down all 10 regional offices that focus on environmental justice, effectively ending three decades of work at the agency to alleviate the pollution that burdens poor and minority communities.

This latest decision signals that the EPA is giving low priority to frontline and fence line communities that face disproportionately high levels of pollution. In an internal memo to federal agencies, Zeldin reportedly said that elimination of the offices would help fulfill President Donald Trump’s “mandate” to end “forced discrimination programs.”

Studies consistently reveal that individuals in economically distressed and disadvantaged communities experience higher rates of asthma, heart disease, and other health issues, which have been linked to air pollution, compared to the national average.

Rolling Back Power Plant Regulations

The EPA is seeking to reexamine the Biden-Harris administration’s proposed rule, the Clean Power Plan 2.0, which aims to reduce emissions from existing coal and gas-fired power plants. The rule requires existing coal plants that plan to operate beyond 2039 to achieve emissions reductions equivalent to 90% carbon capture by 2032.

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the EPA's authority to regulate power plant emissions under the original Clean Power Plan in West Virginia v. EPA, citing concerns about agency overreach and potential impacts on energy affordability and reliability. “In reconsidering the Biden-Harris rule that ran afoul of Supreme Court case law, we are seeking to ensure that the agency follows the rule of law while providing all Americans with access to reliable and affordable energy,” Zeldin said.

According to the scientists and former regulators at the EPA, “These unprecedented regulatory reversals threaten decades of progress in protecting public health, preserving the environment and mitigating climate change.”

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