EPA Announces Expansive Deregulatory Plan

• Reconsidering the “Clean Power Plan 2.0” based on the Biden administration’s rule requiring “unlawful fuel-shifting” and “overreaching”
• Citing U.S. Supreme Court’s stay of the Clean Power Plan and subsequent decision overturning it in West Virginia v. EPA

• Reconsidering regulations for the oil and gas industry under Clean Air Act (CAA) § 111 (40 CFR Part 60, Subparts OOOOb/c) and revisions to 40 CFR Part 98, Subpart W of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program as “ideologically driven regulations” that prevent U.S. “energy dominance”
• Referring to “major recent Supreme Court precedent” related to federal agencies’ interpretation and implementation of governing statutes

• Reconsidering the MATS rule based on noted costs for compliance, past mercury emissions reductions, and significant regulatory uncertainty for coal plants in several states, including Pennsylvania and West Viriginia
• Considering 2-year compliance exemption via CAA § 112(i)(4) for affected power plants during EPA’s rulemaking process

EPA is considering 2-year compliance exemption

• Reconsidering the mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program based on noted costs of calculating and submitting annual emissions reports
• Noting that mandatory GHGRP is “not directly related to” developing regulations and could be better used to drive improvements at reporting facilities

• Revising 2024 wastewater regulations for coal burning power plants on flue gas desulfurization wastewater, bottom ash transport water, combustion residual leachate and legacy wastewater
• Reconsidering technology-based ELGs and evaluating immediate relief from leachate requirements
• Stating that EPA will consider how it might provide “immediate relief from some of the existing leachate requirements,” and “in a series of related actions,” EPA will provide clarifying updates on leachate requirements and reevaluate availability and cost of membrane technology

• Modernizing regulations on wastewater discharges for oil and gas extraction facilities to “provide regulatory flexibility” and support environmentally sustainable water reuse with “modern technologies and management strategies”
• Reviewing and evaluating technologies and strategies for produced water to be treated for beneficial reuse, including for AI and data center cooling, rangeland irrigation, fire control, power generation, and ecological needs
• Considering expanding the geographic scope of where treated wastewater can be used and discharged in the U.S.

• Reconsidering 2024 Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule due to “significant concerns relating to national security and the value of the prescriptive requirements within the rule”
• Stating that the 2024 RMP rule makes oil and natural gas refineries and chemical facilities less safe and less competitive

• Reconsidering Model Year 2027, Later Light-Duty, Medium-Duty, and Heavy-Duty Vehicle regulations based on noted regulatory and compliance costs and effort to bring back American auto jobs
• Reevaluating Biden administration’s “Clean Trucks Plan” and “2022 Heavy-Duty Nitrous Oxide (NOx) rule”

• Reconsidering the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding in collaboration with Office of Management and Budget and other agencies based on costs of regulations that flow from the finding
• Reconsidering all of EPA’s prior regulations and actions that rely on the 2009 Endangerment Finding
• Stating that “EPA will follow the Administrative Procedure Act and Clean Air Act, as applicable, in a transparent way for the betterment of the American people and fulfillment of the rule of law”
• Stating in a separate one-page document that “EPA does not prejudge the outcome” of the reconsideration

• Reconsidering the technology transition rule based on noted costs of refrigerant systems required under rule
• Stating that the rule harms semiconductor manufacturing and raises the cost of food at grocery stores

• Reconsidering the PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) based on “serious concerns” from states and the standards serving “as a major obstacle to permitting”
• Releasing guidance “soon” to increase flexibility on NAAQS implementation, reforms to New Source Review, and direction on permitting obligations

Guidance to be released “soon”

• Reconsidering initially the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) for integrated iron and steel manufacturing, rubber tire manufacturing, synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry, commercial sterilizers for medical devise and spices, lime manufacturing, coke ovens, copper smelting, and taconite ore processing
• Considering a 2-year compliance exemption via CAA § 112(i)(4) for affected facilities during EPA’s rulemaking process
• Evaluating other NESHAPs and New Source Performance Standards to determine whether they should be reconsidered

• Reconsidering implementation of program based on noted significant costs to power plants in the past
• Reviewing Regional Haze Program regulations “to ensure that it fulfills Congressional intent, is based on current scientific information, and reflects recent improvements in air quality”

• Revisiting Biden administration’s “social cost of carbon” based on “significant regulatory costs”

• Immediately revising National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives “to ensure that enforcement does not discriminate based on race or socioeconomic status” or “shut down energy production”
• Stating that enforcement discretion will provide predictability “as EPA considers changes to regulations” and “cost savings”

• Terminating DEI and Environmental Justice arms of EPA

• Tackling “troubled” “Good Neighbor Plan” to advance cooperative federalism and work with states on Statement Implementation Plans to improve air quality

• Announcing commitment to address backlog of State/Tribal Implementation Plans
• Noting EPA will assist states to ensure air quality is protected while growing economy
• Referencing states’ concerns “related to being punished for emissions” outside of their control and “air quality monitors not being located in most logical locations”
• Specifically mentioning development of semiconductor manufacturing and artificial intelligence

• Prioritizing allowance of prescribed fires within State/Tribal Implementation Plans to decrease risk of future wildfires

• Reconstituting Science Advisory Board and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee
• Stating changes are critical to EPA receiving scientific advice “consistent with its legal obligations to advance core mission of protecting human health and the environment”

• Prioritizing a number of “timely” actions on coal ash, “including state permit program reviews and update to coal ash regulations”
• Reviewing Legacy-Coal Combustion Residuals Management Units Rule (CCRMU Rule) and “evaluating whether to grant short- and long-term relief such as extending compliance deadlines”

EPA aims to complete CCRMU Rule changes within “a year”

• Granting an extension of the no action assurance that North Carolina requested to “use large air curtain incinerators to clear debris without Title V permits to allow more efficient burning of debris with lower emissions”

• Revising Clean Water Act (CWA) Waters of the United States definition to reduce red tape, cut permitting costs and lower costs of doing business
• Undertaking rulemaking process guided by Sackett and providing guidance to states while rulemaking proceeds