Key Points
- President-elect Trump has said he would reverse his predecessor’s climate policies, withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas emissions and rescinding some EPA emissions rules.
- The SEC’s proposed rules mandating detailed disclosures about climate policies and impacts will likely be withdrawn.
- While, as a congressman, the nominee for EPA administrator supported legislation on so-called forever chemicals, the EPA’s recent regulatory efforts in this area will likely be rolled back.
- Many states are increasing their own regulatory efforts and enforcement initiatives to fill what they expect to be a void in federal environmental action.
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to aggressively roll back federal regulations across a number of areas, and we expect that many of the Biden administration’s actions to address climate change will be targeted as part of this deregulation effort. (See “A Significant Shift Away From ESG and Toward Crypto Is Expected at the SEC.”)
Specifically, the incoming president has indicated his administration will:
- Withdraw once again from the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
- Rescind the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rules requiring significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired power plants and new natural gas-fired power plants.
- Withdraw the EPA’s proposed rule imposing a fee on methane emissions from oil and gas facilities.
- Resume the approval of new facilities that export liquefied natural gas, which the Biden administration paused pending an assessment of the climate impacts of new gas exports.
- Rescind the climate-related disclosure rules issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). President-elect Trump’s pick to head the Department of Energy is the CEO of one of the plaintiffs in the litigation currently challenging these rules.
- Ease federal rules setting ambitious fuel efficiency standards, which were expected to push manufacturers toward electric vehicles.
The fate of other environmental regulations remains uncertain. Under President Joe Biden, the EPA has taken a number of regulatory actions with respect to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as forever chemicals. They have included:
- Listing certain types of PFAS as hazardous substances under federal environmental laws.
- Setting national drinking water standards for certain PFAS.
- Establishing water quality criteria for PFAS.
- Expanding reporting requirements for PFAS.
- Identifying PFAS as a National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative for 2024-27.
While some commentators have predicted that these regulations will also be rolled back, President-elect Trump’s pick for administrator of the EPA, Lee Zeldin, twice voted in favor of legislation to designate PFAS as hazardous substances and set drinking water standards for these chemicals when he represented Long Island, New York, as a congressman from 2015 to 2023. Zeldin also opposed cuts to EPA funding under both Democratic and Republican presidents.
Thus, it may be that the Trump administration will aim to increase the permissible levels of PFAS in the environment rather than move to eliminate these regulations altogether.
At the same time, Democratic-led states have pledged to continue their own efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions and address other environmental issues. For example, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed into law the Climate Change Superfund Act, which requires certain companies to pay a fee for their greenhouse gas emissions.
Meanwhile, the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice for New York City has said it will continue efforts to meet its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, regardless of any change in federal climate policy.
And California Attorney General Rob Bonta has promised to fight any efforts by the incoming administration to roll back environmental regulations affecting California. He noted that his state sued the first Trump administration over 120 times (with the majority of those cases involving environmental issues) and is prepared to do so again during the second Trump administration if necessary.
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This memorandum is provided by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and its affiliates for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This memorandum is considered advertising under applicable state laws.