The current U.S. administration has drastically shaken up the priorities of the Environmental Protection Agency, reconsidering many long-standing environmental protections, shifting away from considering Environmental Justice and the Social Cost of Carbon, and pivoting towards supporting fossil fuel and critical mineral exploration. This policy alert brings you up to speed with EPA’s new agenda, how this will affect EPA’s enforcement priorities, and what companies can do to navigate the higher levels of uncertainty about compliance and reputational risks.
What does the EPA’s new deregulatory agenda look like?
On February 4th, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced EPA’s Powering the Great American Comeback Initiative “to achieve the agency’s mission while energizing the greatness of the American economy”, and consisting of 5 pillars, the new administration says will foster economic growth. Pillar 1 emphasizes the agency’s commitment to ensuring “clean air, land, and water for every American,” which translates into a refocus on historically ‘traditional air pollution’ compliance, wastewater/storm water permitting compliance, and solid/hazardous waste compliance requirements. Pillars 2 through 5 focus on:
- Restoring American Energy Dominance (US energy independence)
- Permitting Reform, Cooperative Federalism, and Cross-Agency Partnership (promote US-based investment)
- Make the U.S. the Artificial Intelligence Capital of the World (data center & related facility investment powered by American-made energy)
- Protecting and Bringing Back American Auto [Sector] jobs (investment in domestic manufacturing)
To find out more, read the Policy Alert to see how your business will be affected.
