The Trump administration is moving to scrap an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program projected to save American businesses up to $2.4 billion in regulatory costs, according to the agency. [emphasis, links added]
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin proposed a rule on Friday to eliminate the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), which requires certain companies and facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions data and “other relevant information,” according to the agency.
This marks the latest deregulatory move from Zeldin, who on July 29 proposed rolling back the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which energy sector experts have previously explained to the Daily Caller News Foundation is a cornerstone of Obama-era regulations that have been used to impose draconian rules on power plants.
“Alongside President Trump, EPA continues to live up to the promise of unleashing energy dominance that powers the American Dream. The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality,” Zeldin said on Friday.
“Instead, it costs American businesses and manufacturing billions of dollars, driving up the cost of living, jeopardizing our nation’s prosperity, and hurting American communities. With this proposal, we show once again that fulfilling EPA’s statutory obligations and Powering the Great American Comeback is not a binary choice.”
The EPA said the change could save American businesses as much as $2.4 billion in compliance costs, while still meeting applicable Clean Air Act (CAA) statutory requirements.
Congress provided the EPA $3.5 million in 2008 under the Consolidated Appropriations Act to begin the GHGRP, which was later “promulgated” by former President Barack Obama and began collecting data in 2010, according to the agency.
The rule change would strip companies of a “costly” regulatory burden that adds up to $2.4 billion, according to the EPA.
The agency argues that by “reducing the overall regulatory burden,” companies that must now report could channel compliance costs and efforts towards “actual, tangible environmental benefits.”
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