New EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin yesterday issued a shocking announcement touting the “greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history” intended to “unleash American energy, lower cost [sic] of living for Americans, [and] revitalize the American auto industry.”
The EPA is taking 31 actions including “reconsidering” (aka, beginning the process of voiding and withdrawing) environmental regulations primarily covering oil and gas and power plant operations. Other matters caught in the net are:
- “Reconsideration of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and regulations and actions that rely on that Finding
- Overhauling Biden-Harris Administration’s “Social Cost of Carbon”
- Terminating Biden’s Environmental Justice and DEI arms of the agency (EJ/DEI)
- Reconstituting Science Advisory Board and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (SAB/CASAC)”
Most environmental regulatory and permitting programs are run by states rather than the federal government. In some recognition of this, two of the EPA’s announced actions are:
- “Working with states … to resolve massive backlog with State Implementation Plans [SIPs] …
- Prioritizing coal [sic] ash program to expedite state permit reviews and update coal ash regulations (CCR Rule)”
Last month, I wrote that an EPA deregulatory initiative would have minimal impact on facility day-to-day operations due to state primacy on environmental regulations, but the scope of this plan makes it more complicated. Many states and operating permits incorporate EPA regulations (Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or “CFR”) by reference. Eliminating sections of 40 CFR would remove legal and technical reference points for states – leaving them to fill the voids via their own rulemaking or eliminating the requirements altogether.
Since Zeldin generally targeted climate-related matters, EPA’s site clean up mandates (Superfund), hazardous waste management rules (RCRA), and water quality/effluent discharge standards remain intact. For now.
Of course, this is just the starting gun going off. It will take some time (who knows how long) to go through the administrative processes for turning the bullet points into a result. In addition, you can bet a raft of lawsuits will be filed within days to challenge the actions. As Doug Parker of EcoLumix expressed, “let the litigation begin.”
Members can read more about environmental compliance matters here.
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