‘Fork in the road’ for Trump’s EPA

Environmental Compliance News

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EOs impacting the EPA

The following initial EOs provide insights into this administration’s agenda and directly affect EPA operations and activities:

Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions: “The previous administration has embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the Federal Government. The injection of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) into our institutions has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy. … Climate extremism has exploded inflation and overburdened businesses with regulation.”
Regulatory Freeze Pending Review: “Do not propose or issue any rule in any manner, including by sending a rule to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), until a department or agency head … reviews and approves the rule. … Immediately withdraw any rules that have been sent to the OFR but not published in the Federal Register, so that they can be reviewed and approved. …”
Return to In-Person Work: “Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis. …”
Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements: “The United States must grow its economy and maintain jobs for its citizens while playing a leadership role in global efforts to protect the environment. … In recent years, the United States has purported to join international agreements and initiatives that do not reflect our country’s values or our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives. Moreover, these agreements steer American taxpayer dollars to countries that do not require, or merit, financial assistance in the interests of the American people. … The United States Ambassador to the United Nations shall immediately submit formal written notification of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”
Unleashing American Energy: “America is blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources that have historically powered our Nation’s economic prosperity. In recent years, burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded the development of these resources, limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens. … It is the policy of the United States:

to encourage energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf. …;
to establish our position as the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals, which will create jobs and prosperity at home, strengthen supply chains for the United States and its allies, and reduce the global influence of malign and adversarial states;
to protect the United States’ economic and national security and military preparedness by ensuring that an abundant supply of reliable energy is readily accessible in every State and territory of the Nation;
to ensure that all regulatory requirements related to energy are grounded in clearly applicable law;
to eliminate the ‘electric vehicle (EV) mandate. …”

Declaring a National Energy Emergency: “The energy and critical minerals (‘energy’) identification, leasing, development, production, transportation, refining, and generation capacity of the United States are all far too inadequate to meet our Nation’s needs. … [This] constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to our Nation’s economy, national security, and foreign policy. In light of these findings, I hereby declare a national emergency.”
Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential: “The State of Alaska holds an abundant and largely untapped supply of natural resources including, among others, energy, [minerals], timber, and seafood. … It is, therefore, imperative to immediately reverse the punitive restrictions implemented by the previous administration that specifically target resource development on both State and Federal lands in Alaska.
Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing: “The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) … shall coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”
Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation: “The ever-expanding morass of complicated Federal regulation imposes massive costs on the lives of millions of Americans, creates a substantial restraint on our economic growth and ability to build and innovate, and hampers our global competitiveness. … It is the policy of my Administration to significantly reduce the private expenditures required to comply with Federal regulations. … To that end, it is important that for each new regulation issued, at least 10 prior regulations be identified for elimination.”

On February 4, 2025, the EPA’s new administrator, Lee Zeldin, announced his “Powering the Great American Comeback” initiative. The plan has five pillars that are Zeldin’s immediate priorities:

Clean air, land, and water for every American
Restore American energy dominance
Permitting reform, cooperative federalism, and cross-agency partnership
Make the United States the artificial intelligence capital of the world
Protecting and bringing back American auto jobs

Game plan activated

These EOs and the quick announcement of Zeldin’s initiative make it clear the Trump administration has a well-thought-out game plan to Make America Great Again. The question is: What does it mean for the EPA and its ability to complete its congressionally mandated mission to “protect human health and the environment”?

The Trump administration’s early actions indicate that its plans for the EPA remain unchanged from Trump’s first term: Deregulate and dismantle.

The mechanisms to do so lie in three key areas:

Decrease the workforce.
Roll back or remove environmental regulations.
Withhold funding.

Gutting the workforce

One of Trump’s day 1 EOs was to order the termination of remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in person on a full-time basis.

This was followed by an e-mail blast sent by the White House’s Office of Personnel Management to more than 2 million federal employees. The subject line read “Fork in the Road.” The e-mail said “that all full-time federal civilian staffers had the option of taking buyouts by Feb. 6 that would allow them to be paid, with benefits, through Sept. 30,” according to Forbes.

As of Thursday, February 13, 2025, approximately 75,000 federal employees had accepted the buyout offer until a federal judge temporarily pushed back the deadline for acceptance until arguments could be heard over the legal issues.

In the lawsuit, filed by federal workers unions, plaintiffs argued that payments can’t be guaranteed by the administration beyond March 14, when the existing budget expires.

However, on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr. “allowed the Trump administration to move forward for the moment with its deferred resignation offer for federal employees,” reports CNN. He “said federal employee unions, which brought a lawsuit on behalf of their members, are not directly impacted by the offer, so they lack standing to bring this case.”

Meanwhile, approximately 1,100 EPA employees received an e-mail notification that they were subject to immediate termination. These cuts are expected to be in areas related to air pollution, climate change, and environmental regulation programs.

“Workers who’ve been at the agency less than one year received an email last week notifying them that they had been identified as employees that were likely on a ‘probationary/ trial period,’” according to an e-mail reviewed by NBC News and reported by Yahoo News. “As a probationary/ trial period employee, the agency has the right to immediately terminate you,” the e-mail continues. “The process for probationary removal is that you receive a notice of termination, and your employment is ended immediately.”

Another area where the EPA is being undermined in personnel is in leadership.

“The U.S. [EPA] will demote career officials overseeing science, pollution enforcement and hazardous waste cleanup, replacing them with political appointees who can act without Senate confirmation,” reports Environmental Health News (EHN).

“The [EPA] has long relied on career scientists and independent experts to guide its policies on air and water quality, toxic chemicals and climate change. But shifting decision-making power from these specialists to political appointees could reshape how the agency enforces environmental laws, potentially prioritizing industry concerns over public health and ecological protection,” the EHN article continues. “This change fits within a broader effort to roll back regulations viewed as burdensome by industries linked to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Critics warn that sidelining nonpartisan experts could weaken the agency’s ability to enforce laws like the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Clean Water Act (CWA), leading to looser oversight of pollutants that contribute to a wide range of health problems, water contamination and climate change.”

Others fear the EPA will be permanently damaged by the second Trump administration.

“… If they actually make moves to really gut the staff, to eliminate institutional memory and knowledge? A next president can’t just fix that. You’re talking about generations of value that can pretty quickly be extinguished, and that will take generations to rebuild,” said Matthew Tejada, senior vice president of environmental health at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), according to nonprofit news organization Truthout.

Deregulation

Trump has expressed his opinion that environmental regulations kill jobs.

The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) characterizes this perspective as “fiction.”

“Decades of economic research have documented that there is no evidence that environmental regulations ‘kill jobs.’ Only two tenths of one percent of layoffs in the U.S. are caused by regulations of all kinds, including environmental regulations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. Job losses are caused much more often by declines in business demand, corporate buyouts, lower overseas labor costs and mechanization,” the EIP says.

Other deregulatory actions include:

One of Trump’s initial EOs, “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” temporarily delays the effective date of several regulations, including the final rule for regulating trichloroethylene (TCE) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), until March 21, 2025.
Trump has also tasked the EPA with submitting “a report on the ‘legality and continuing applicability’ of its 2009 endangerment finding for (greenhouse gases – GHGs) under the [CAA]. Revoking the finding would undermine the EPA’s regulations covering carbon dioxide and other GHG emissions from vehicles and power plants, and its climate regulatory authority in general,” notes law firm Sidley Austin LLP.

However, the final suite of methane emissions rules, including the Waste Emissions Charge, include specific Congressionally mandated thresholds and fine amounts. When Congress removes ambiguity from an act of law, it becomes difficult for courts to overturn it. In this case, the U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to hear an appeal to overturn these regulations.
The EPA is also required to issue guidance on whether the “social cost of carbon” metric should be eliminated. This metric quantifies the climate impacts of permitting and regulations.
The pending final regulation setting drinking water standards for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has been withdrawn.
Under Trump’s EO declaring a national energy emergency, agency heads are ordered to review policies that create “obstacles to energy development” and submit reports on these findings to the attorney general.
Federal waters in the Artic, Atlantic, Pacific, and newly renamed Gulf of America have been reopened for development. The pause on new natural gas permits has been lifted, while new or renewed wind energy leases on the Offshore Continental Shelf have been halted.
“Trump’s EOs reflect a goal to eliminate Biden’s elective vehicle (EV) ‘mandate’ and push back on California’s ability to develop their own EV requirements,” Sidley Austin says. “He rescinded all Biden policies regarding net-zero GHG emission goals for vehicles and other industries, such as the ‘Green New Deal,’ which, among other provisions, funded EV charging stations. He also vowed to revoke California’s waiver, promulgated under that state’s unique CAA authority to develop vehicle emission standards stricter than federal standards.”
“Finally, Trump called to terminate all environmental justice (EJ) offices and positions in federal government, as well as any EJ initiatives, programs, or other activities,” Sidley Austin continues.

Withhold funding

The administration also called for a freeze on federal grant funds awarded under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), although two federal judges have issued orders requiring the freeze to be lifted.

In Trump’s first term in office, the EPA’s budget was significantly decreased. That action is expected to be repeated this term.

With decreased staff and a reduced budget, the EPA won’t be able to meet its obligations in several areas. Enforcement actions are one example. This administration is expected to push the majority of enforcement actions to the state level.

“Project 2025 also recommends eliminating the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, instead turning enforcement duties over to the states. ‘If you take away enforcement, then the rest of the system just kind of doesn’t matter,’ Tejada said,” according to Truthout.

During Trump’s first term, his administration focused on prioritizing “cooperation with the regulated community and focus on compliance rather than enforcement,” reports law firm Foley & Lardner LLP.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as the Superfund Program, saw a decline in cleanup actions during Trump’s first term, and this decline is expected again during his second term.

Expect additional changes

“This is just the beginning of the Trump administration’s mission to traumatize the EPA,” said Jeremy Symons, senior advisor to the Environmental Protection Network, an organization of former EPA staff, according to The Guardian. “The wealthy corporate polluters close to Trump won’t be satisfied until he tears the place down and put polluters in control.”

Beveridge & Diamond P.C. advises regulated industry to:

Monitor applicable regulations, and plan to comment on proposed regulations.
Be prepared for citizen lawsuits and state litigation to interfere with replacement regulations proposed by the current administration.
“Seek opportunities to frame and connect corporate projects and priorities with administration efforts to bolster U.S.-based energy, infrastructure, technology and mining sectors.”
“Retain focus on fundamental compliance with core environmental statutes. Deregulation or reduced federal enforcement are not a license for bad behavior, and companies must always guard their reputations and demonstrate responsible environmental stewardship.”
“Be ready to litigate on multiple fronts, including administrative rulemakings and defense of citizen suits, mass and class actions.”
“Be prepared for the unexpected, including both delays/pauses and sudden accelerations.”

The Trump administration is committed to its line in the sand. It has reached the fork in the road and will continue its path in the opposite direction of the previous administration. So hang on. Rapid changes are on the way.

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