Trump EPA Takes Aim at Climate Rules, Including in Trucking
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The Trump administration is launching a sweeping overhaul of U.S. environmental mandates in a campaign it billed as the “biggest deregulatory action” of its kind in U.S. history.
The Environmental Protection Agency said March 12 that it will “reconsider” a host of Obama- and Biden-era regulations ranging from chemical safety to pollution curbs as it makes good on President Donald Trump’s pledge to speed U.S. energy development. It also described the effort as “historic actions” that “will roll back trillions in regulatory costs and hidden taxes on U.S. families.”
Among EPA’s most consequential moves is its plan to revisit the Obama administration’s so-called endangerment finding that is the legal foundation for most EPA climate change rules. The agency said it also plans to reconsider any actions underpinned by the 2009 determination that carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases threaten the public health.
RELATED: EPA Sets Strict Emissions Standards for Heavy Trucks
Included in the overhaul is a review of the Model Year 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles regulations.
American Trucking Associations applauded the upcoming review.
Spear
“We commend President Trump and EPA Administrator Zeldin for restoring common sense to our nation’s environmental laws and demonstrating bold leadership on this critical issue that affects not only the 8.5 million men and women who work in trucking, but all Americans,” ATA President Chris Spear said.
RELATED: Trucking Trade Groups Oppose EPA Phase 3 Rule
“GHG3 in its current form is unachievable given the state of battery-electric technology and the sheer lack of charging infrastructure,” he continued. “This rule has been an albatross for the trucking industry, threatening to reduce equipment availability, increase costs for businesses and consumers, and cause major supply chain disruptions.
“It is critically important that the federal government set realistic standards with achievable targets and timelines. Prior to the imposition of GHG3, EPA used a collaborate process that served the agency and the trucking industry well and allowed us to make monumental progress to reduce emissions. As a result, 60 trucks today emit the same amount as one truck manufactured in 1988.”
Zeldin said in a statement, “We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more.”
RELATED: Diesel OEMs Working to Meet 2027 EPA Standards
The EPA’s wide-ranging plans to rewrite or even scrap environmental regulations align with Trump’s promises to eliminate regulations that impede oil, gas and electricity production even as scientists say the world needs to rapidly curtail the pollution to restrain global warming and avoid escalating, catastrophic consequences of climate change.
The success of an attack on the endangerment finding, which could take years and would face inevitable legal challenges, isn’t a forgone conclusion. The Supreme Court in 2007 affirmed the agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. The effort has divided even the energy industry, with some warning that doing away with the finding — and the regulations it supports — could revive public nuisance lawsuits against oil producers and power plant operators. Under a 2010 Supreme Court decision, federal climate regulation under the Clean Air Act has effectively precluded those claims.
Zeldin
Zeldin on March 12 also moved to revise Biden-era mandates curbing greenhouse gas pollution from the nation’s power plants, though he isn’t immediately replacing them. Instead, his announcement marks the beginning of a formal rulemaking process that could result in replacing the requirements with only modest pollution curbs, mirroring an approach the EPA took during Trump’s first term.
Trump promised on the campaign trail to “open dozens and dozens” of power plants to help meet an expected surge in energy demand from data centers and manufacturing.
During Trump’s first term, the EPA used a similar approach to undo former President Barack Obama’s sweeping Clean Power Plan, which also targeted the electricity sector’s emissions. In its place, Trump’s EPA substituted modest requirements focused on emission reductions that could be achieved at individual power plants through improvements in efficiency.
Another, similar shift in pollution limits might prolong the lifespan for some coal plants that would otherwise have to shut down — or swiftly employ carbon capture technology — under the Biden-era regulation.
Transport Topics contributed to this report.
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