The Environmental Protection Agency initiated over two dozen actions overhauling numerous green and climate-related regulations implemented by the Biden administration in what Administrator Lee Zeldin described as an effort to “end the Green New Deal.” 

The EPA announced 31 actions Wednesday afternoon, with Zeldin describing it as the “greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen.” 

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Through these actions, the agency is overhauling, walking back, and reconsidering dozens of Biden administration environmental standards, such as the Clean Power Plan 2.0, Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, vehicle emissions rules, the Good Neighbor Plan, air quality standards, water regulations, and more. 

“By overhauling massive rules on the endangerment finding, the social cost of carbon and similar issues, we are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age,” Zeldin wrote in an opinion article published in the Wall Street Journal. 

He said deregulation would lower the cost of living, including for vehicles, heating, and other business operations. 

“Today marks the death of the Green New Scam. The EPA recognizes that environmental protection and economic prosperity aren’t mutually exclusive goals,” Zeldin said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are recommitting to the core American values of innovation, growth, exceptionalism and opportunity.”

One of the policies targeted is the Biden administration’s Clean Power Plan 2.0, which was intended to cut pollution from power plants. The rules, finalized by the Biden EPA, regulated existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants operating past 2039. 

It specifically required them to control around 90% of their pollution through carbon capture technologies. Republicans and critics have long claimed the rule would cause more power plants to retire rather than adopt green solutions. 

The EPA is moving to reconsider the rule, which is the first step the agency can take before repealing the Biden policy.

The agency is also reconsidering greenhouse gas regulation standards for light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicles. Republicans have decried the standards as an electric vehicle mandate, and President Donald Trump frequently criticized them on the campaign trail.

Under the Biden administration, the EPA finalized new emission standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles for model year 2027 to reduce air pollution. 

Zeldin argued that the regulations reduce consumers’ choice for affordable vehicles and impose $700 billion in regulatory and compliance costs on the auto industry. 

The EPA will also reevaluate parts of the Biden EPA’s “Clean Trucks Plan,” which includes the 2022 Heavy-Duty Nitrous Oxide rule. The regulation aims to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from heavy-duty vehicles starting with model year 2027.

The agency has opted to reconsider rules and regulations implemented long before the Biden administration. Specifically, Zeldin and his team are taking a look at the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which found that six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, generated by human activity found in the atmosphere threaten public health and welfare.

Based on a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that affirmed that greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act, the Endangerment Finding has authorized the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from various sources, including vehicles and power plants. 

In tandem with other agency heads, the Trump-led EPA is arguing that the Endangerment Finding unduly burdened the public. 

“Since 2009, I’ve consistently argued that the endangerment finding required a consideration of downstream costs imposed on both mobile sources like cars and stationary sources like factories,” Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Jeffrey Clark said in a statement. “Under the enlightened leadership of President Trump and Administrator Zeldin, the time for fresh thought has finally arrived.”

The 31 deregulatory actions initiated Wednesday also included the termination of the agency’s arms focused on environmental justice, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. This falls in line with the president’s executive order signed on Day One that called on all federal agencies to eliminate “radical and wasteful” programs focused on DEI. 

Also on Wednesday, the EPA said it would look to redefine “Waters of the United States” regulation, clarifying which bodies of water are subject to federal oversight. 

Zeldin said the agency would work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which helps regulate the bodies of waters, to revise the “Waters of the United States,” also known as WOTUS, to comply with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA. 

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in Sackett v. EPA that the agency’s definition exceeded its statutory authority. The high court said that WOTUS was limited to wetlands that directly adjoin rivers, lakes, and other navigable bodies of water. 

“We want clean water for all Americans supported by clear and consistent rules for all states, farmers, and small businesses,” Zeldin said, adding that the Biden administration had placed “unfair burdens” in its previous ruling. 

The announcement is expected to start a lengthy rulemaking process, as the EPA said it would undertake a revision of the 2023 definition of WOTUS. During the rulemaking process, the agency will provide guidance for states implementing the pre-2015 regulation to ensure consistency with the law. 

Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) applauded the EPA’s announcement to revise WOTUS, stating that a framework that is “clear and legally sound” will provide “clear and workable water regulations.”

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In his op-ed published Wednesday, Zeldin insisted that the sweeping deregulation of such policies was not meant to abandon “environmental protection.” Instead, he said the agency was focusing on “achieving it through innovation and not strangulation.” 

“These common-sense policies preserve our environment and work for all Americans. As we unleash American energy, revitalize domestic manufacturing, cut costs for families, and restore the rule of law, we do so with the firm belief that America’s greatest days lie ahead,” Zeldin said.