EPA Moves to Revoke Finding Underpinning GHG Emission Regulations
The Trump administration on Tuesday unveiled its plan to revoke the finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health, which could allow for the invalidation of multiple federal climate regulations.
An announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency about the move specifically addressed its impact on EPA vehicle emissions standards, saying that if the proposal is finalized it would “remove all greenhouse gas standards for light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and heavy-duty engines, starting with EPA’s first greenhouse gas standards set in 2010 for light-duty vehicles and those set in 2011 for medium-duty vehicles and heavy-duty vehicles and engines.”
The Obama administration made the endangerment finding in 2009, providing the legal basis for EPA to then institute regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions. While supporters say the finding is a crucial tool for U.S. efforts to fight climate change, detractors claim the determination was based on flawed science by those seeking to give EPA the statutory authority to use the Clean Air Act to set emissions standards for greenhouse gases.
“Many stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent, and warped science to achieve their preferred ends and stick American families with hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden taxes every single year,” EPA Administration Lee Zeldin said during an event at an auto dealership in Indiana to announce the effort.
Zeldin said overturning the finding and resulting regulations “would end $1 trillion or more in hidden taxes on American businesses and families.”
Chris Spear, president of the American Trucking Associations, said rescinding the rule would reverse Biden-era efforts to force the electrification of the heavy-duty trucking sector.
“This electric-truck mandate put the trucking industry on a path to economic ruin and would have crippled our supply chain, disrupted deliveries, and raised prices for American families and businesses,” he said. “The trucking industry supports cleaner, more efficient technologies, but we need policies rooted in real-world conditions.”
The effort to revoke the endangerment finding is likely to face multiple court challenges, with environmental groups on Tuesday vowing legal action.
“The EPA wants to shirk its responsibility to protect us from climate pollution, but science and the law say otherwise. If EPA finalizes this illegal and cynical approach, we will see them in court,” said Christy Goldfuss, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council environmental group.
EPA is required to gather public comment before formally deciding to revoke the finding, a process expected to be complete by the end of the year. The environmental group Earthjustice said it “will be working with clients and partners to submit comprehensive legal and technical comments” in support of the finding.
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said the EPA move will encourage state-level action across the country imposing limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
“While there is no substitute for federal action to limit carbon pollution, I expect that states and cities across the country will try to fill the void created by EPA’s shameful retreat, and the oil and gas industry, facing a patchwork of regulatory regimes, will rue the day it put this awful scheme in motion,” he said in a statement.
Reporting by Steve Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly,
mkelly@opisnet.com