The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to rescind more than 30 regulations, including those aimed at reducing carbon emissions and controlling pollution, and seeking to redefine federal government-enforceable water and wetlands, administrator Lee Zeldin said Wednesday.
The agency will take 31 steps to cover many issues equivalent to “the biggest deregulation announcement in US history,” Zeldin said,NA Easy Video It was posted on the EPA website Wednesday afternoon.
As part of President Donald Trump’s campaign, Zeldin has pledged to promote energy production and cut regulations focused on slowing climate change.
“The Green New Scam is over as the EPA plays its part in the golden age of American success today,” Zeldin said.
“A despicable betrayal”
Democrats and environmental groups criticized the move, particularly the agency’s rethinking in 2009 that greenhouse gas emissions are harming human health and safety.
The findings are the basis for regulations targeting climate pollution, and Zeldin said all actions that rely on discovery will also be reconsidered.
“This is a sly betrayal of the American people,” New Jersey Rep. Frank Palone, a top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement. “President Trump and his EPA administrators pretend that climate pollution does not put human health or the environment at risk, not because of scientific justification, but because it helps them line up in the pockets of billionaire corporate polluters.”
Legal challenges have been promised
Palone said he will fight a reversal of the dangers of the Trump administration, which he called “illegal and unjust.”
Environmental groups also predicted that the Center for Biodiversity would not be able to withstand legal challenges, pledging to bring the agency to court on the move.
“The Trump administration’s ignorance is only launched through malice towards the planet,” said Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Climate Law Research in Biodiversity, in a statement. “This move won’t stand up in court. We’re going to fight it at every stage.”
Other measures announced Wednesday include revisions to mercury and toxic pollutant standards that stated coal plants targeted by the EPA, changes to car and truck emission standards that some Republicans say are equivalent to electric vehicle duties, and ending environmental justice and external civil rights.
The announcement comes a day after Zeldin canceled a $20 billion grant for a sustainable energy project.
US waters
31 not included in the action package Separate announcements Wednesday, the EPA will write new rules to amend definitions that will lengthen water that may be regulated by the federal government.
The agency will work with the US Army Corps of Engineers to establish a new definition of “US waters.” This is the term for what the EPA and other federal agencies can regulate under the Clean Water Act, in line with a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that cut off the broad definition adopted by the Biden administration.
The first Trump administration significantly narrowed the scope of federal surveillance of unavailable waters, part of a decades-long battle over the scope of the Clean Water Act.
The new definition will be drafted to reduce permit costs and regulatory burdens for farmers, builders and landowners, the agency’s release said.
“The previous administration’s definition of “US water” placed an unfair burden on Americans and increased the costs of business,” Zeldin said. “Our goal is to protect American water resources consistent with land laws to support American farmers, landowners, entrepreneurs and families in a great American comeback.”
The 2023 case, born from a federal landowner, allows the requirement to build on his property, but the Supreme Court Domination That water must have a “continuous surface connection” to the navigable waters to gain federal jurisdiction.
The EPA under the Democratic president used a broader definition that includes waterways and wetlands when there was connection to larger navigable waters.
The battle for registration will be updated
Reactions to Wednesday’s announcement fell along the boundaries of partisanship and special interests that have defined conflict for many years, with Democrats and environmental groups urging stronger protections and Republicans and industry groups to praise the new approach.
Sen. Shelly Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the new definition would eliminate “a vagueness and unnecessary burden on landowners.”
“The EPA and USACE are celebrating this first step and offering carefully by landowners, farmers, businesses and local governments by improving the range of Wotus without overreaching,” she said in a statement. “This action ensures that only wetlands with genuine and continuous links in the jurisdiction are under federal surveillance.”
Jim Murphy, director of legal advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation of Environmental Groups, said the lawsuit would further drive water regulation responsibility to state and local governments, particularly as the EPA cuts staff as part of a government-wide effort to reduce the federal workforce.
“The Supreme Court decision was protected by law and significantly narrowed the scope of streams and wetlands, which are already reflected in current regulations,” Murphy wrote in a statement. “With the potential for EPA’s skeletal workforce, this move will put more pressure and expense on states and regions to ensure water is safe.”
Last updated at 10:32am, March 13, 2025
